TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Predatory Lending

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she plans to take to control predatory lending.

Melanie Johnson: In July last year I announced a review of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. As part of this review, I have consulted on proposals to extend the protection the Act provides by removing the financial limit and to make the terms for early settlement of loans fairer to consumers. I will be consulting in 2003 on proposals for improving the current licensing regime to ensure better regulation of lenders and increasing protection for consumers against extortionate credit.

Insolvency Services (Pay)

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the annual pay negotiations for employees in the Insolvency Services will be concluded.

Melanie Johnson: The Treasury agreed the Insolvency Service pay remit on 9 December 2002 and pay negotiations will begin very shortly.

Invest UK

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which chemical industry specialist was appointed to work with Invest UK in January 2001; and if she will make a statement on Invest UK, including the terms of reference for the organisation and its work.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The chemical industry specialist appointed to work with Invest UK is James W. Walpole, a senior executive, who has been seconded to the DTI by BP Chemicals for three years and works alongside Invest UK's team in the USA.
	Invest UK's mission is Xto attract, to retain and add value to inward investment." It does so by marketing the UK abroad as an investment location, working with its partner agencies in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the English Regional Development Agencies.
	A copy of the Invest UK Operations Review for 2002, reporting its activities in 2001–02, can be found in the Libraries of the House.

Inward Investment

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates she has made of the level of inward investment into (a) Roxburgh and Berwickshire, (b) the Scottish Borders, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK over the last 10 years.

Nigel Griffiths: The number of inward investments in Scotland and the UK during the financial years 1992–2002 are as follows:
	
		
			  Scotland UK 
		
		
			 1992–93 61 332 
			 1993–94 87 432 
			 1994–95 81 455 
			 1995–96 72 497 
			 1996–97 76 497 
			 1997–98 75 631 
			 1998–99 55 669 
			 1999–2000 75 800 
			 2000–01 74 881 
			 2001–02 61 827 
		
	
	Invest-UK does not hold inward investment for sub regions.
	The figures are based on information provided by companies at the time of announcement of the decision to invest in the UK. There is no requirement to notify Invest-UK of such decisions. These figures include only those projects where Invest-UK and its regional partners were involved or which have come to their notice.

Steel Industry

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support she will provide to the UK steel industry to help it reach its maximum capacity of output.

Alan Johnson: The state aid rules applicable to the steel industry do not allow for direct help to enhance primary steel production. Nonetheless my Department works closely with industry representatives to try to ensure the UK's steel production capacity is utilised by helping its customers in the metals downstream industry sectors to access state of the art technology; best practice to move up the value added chain; and to diversify into new high technology products, in order to remain competitive.

War Pensions

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether war pensions will be in the card account proposed by the Post Office.

Lewis Moonie: I have been asked to reply.
	Yes.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Defence Grant

Keith Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the criteria were by which the civil defence grant for 2003–04 was allocated to individual local authorities;
	(2)  what the aggregate amount of civil defence grant was in each financial year since 1996–97.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement on 3 December 2002, Official Report, column 68WS, which explains how civil defence grant was allocated for 2003–04, and the level of allocation to each authority in England and Wales.
	To determine the individual allocations mentioned in that statement, the following formula was adopted:
	Each authority received #53,000. Each county council received #12,000 in respect of each shire district within the authority's boundaries. These flat-rate payments accounted for approximately 65 per cent. of the aggregate grant, in recognition of the fact that every authority, regardless of size and population, would incur similar unavoidable costs in conducting the basic emergency planning function.
	The remaining 35 per cent. of the aggregate grant was distributed according to the Bellwin threshold, using population size as a proxy for the scale of the emergency planning that authorities need to undertake.
	In order to keep year-on-year changes to individual authorities' allocations within reasonable bounds, a damping was added to the formula, so that no authority lost more than 10 per cent. or gained more than 20 per cent. compared with the previous year.
	Before the formula was applied for the financial year 2002–03, #100,000 was retained for discretionary grant for special projects and special events of benefit to the wider emergency planning community in England and Wales.
	Before making decisions on this allocation method, consultations were held with local authority representatives on the basis of a draft formula. As a result of the representations made, the formula was amended to give greater weight to the flat rate element and less weight to the element distributed according to the Bellwin threshold. The damping was also changed to reduce the floor level for losses.
	The aggregate amount of civil defence grant in each financial year since 1996–97 is as follows:
	
		Aggregate civil defence grant
		
			 Financial year # million 
		
		
			 1996–97 14.93 
			 1997–98 14.46 
			 1998–99 14.44 
			 1999–2000 14.44 
			 2000–01 14.44 
			 2001–02 18.97 
			 2002–03 18.97 
			 2003–04 19.04

Departmental Reorganisation

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the cost of the reorganisations of the (a) DETR, (b) DTLR, (c) DFT and (d) DEFRA Departments.

Douglas Alexander: This information is not collected centrally. Departmental costs and other expenditure are accounted for in departmental annual reports and National Audit Office audits of departmental accounts.

Shropshire Civil Defence Grant

Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  if he will list (a) the amount of civil defence grant for Shropshire, (b) the yearly percentage change for Shropshire and (c) the average percentage change for England in each year since 1997;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the impact of (a) the disruption in the supply of fuel, (b) the foot and mouth outbreak and (c) flooding on Shropshire's civil defence grant.

Douglas Alexander: There are two authorities in Shropshire currently in receipt of civil defence grants: Shropshire county council and Telford and Wrekin unitary authority. The reorganisation of local government and the creation of new all-purpose authorities has led to the redistribution, over several years, of civil defence grant among authorities.
	The yearly percentage change for Shropshire and the average percentage change for England and Wales as a whole, are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Shropshire county council civil defence grant (#) Telford and Wrekin civil defence grant (#) Total civil defence grant for Shropshire (#) Percentage change England and Wales percentage change 
		
		
			 1997–98 212,800 (1)— 212,800 — — 
			 1998–99 171,288 35,000 206,288 -3 0 
			 1999–2000 170,688 35,000 205,688 0 0 
			 2000–01 153,619 48,000 201,619 -2 0 
			 2001–02 170,498 79,999 250,497 +24 +31 
			 2002–03 153,448 71,999 225,447 -10 0 
			 2003–04 153,834 72,385 226,219 0 0 
		
	
	(1) Did not exist
	In the absence of cash limits, the aggregate amount of civil defence grant increased in 2001–02, following discussions with local authorities. It was decided to maintain the grant at around the 2001–02 national level to reflect factors such as the fuel crisis, foot and mouth outbreak and flooding.

TRANSPORT

Air Travel

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the consequences for the demand for flying of a 1 per cent. increase in the cost of flying per annum; and what assessment he has made of the consequences for (a) air pollution, (b) greenhouse gases, (c) noise and (d) wildlife if the demand for flying is halved.

David Jamieson: No assessment assuming an annual increase in the cost of flying of 1 per cent. has been made. The forecasts in XAir Traffic Forecasts for the United Kingdom 2000" assume a 1 per cent. per annum decrease in air fares. A sensitivity test, assuming constant fares over the forecast period, indicates a demand reduction of 25 per cent. by 2020. No assessments have been made on the assumption that the demand for flying were halved.

Car Pounds

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many publicly operated car pounds there are in (a) London and (b) the UK; what their locations are; and how many car pounds are operated by the DVLA in (i) London and (ii) the UK.

David Jamieson: DVLA operates one permanent car pound in London and 13 permanent pounds in the rest of the UK. Temporary pounds are set up to service DVLA's two mobile wheelclamping teams as required.
	In addition, six local authorities have taken on devolved powers to clamp and impound unlicensed vehicles in partnership with DVLA. These are the London boroughs of Croydon, Lewisham, Newham and Wandsworth, together with Hastings and Southend-on-Sea. Each authority has a separate car pound for this purpose. DVLA is in discussion with a further 11 local authorities on devolved powers.
	The information requested on publicly operated car pounds is not immediately available. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as it has been obtained and will place a copy of my letter in the Libraries if the House.

Cycling Helmets

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he plans to legislate to make the wearing of helmets by children when cycling compulsory.

John Spellar: A study published by the Department in November found that overall, the evidence suggests that cycle helmets are effective at reducing the severity of brain and upper facial injuries for all ages, and especially children. This reinforces our view that helmets should be worn by children. Our latest knowledge of wearing is that the rate for all cyclists on built-up major roads is now 22 per cent. The wearing rate is continuing to increase, but at this level, making helmets compulsory would cause enforcement difficulties, and without greater public acceptance, could have an effect on levels of cycling. We will continue to monitor wearing rates and review the option of compulsory wearing from time to time.

DLVA Clamping Teams

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many DVLA clamping teams operate in (a) the UK and (b) London; what plans he has to increase the number of DVLA clamping teams in (i) the UK and (ii) London; how much time was spent by DVLA clamping teams in each London borough in each of the last five years; what criteria are used to measure the effectiveness of DVLA clamping teams; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of DVLA clamping teams, in the last five years, broken down by region.

David Jamieson: DVLA has an overall total of 18 clamping teams operating from 14 pounds throughout the UK. Four of these teams operate in the London area.
	The extension of the wheel clamping scheme is being addressed as part of our proposals to modernise the vehicle registration and licensing system.
	Over the last five years DVLA clamping teams have spent two weeks twice a year in each London borough. In addition, DVLA is developing partnerships with local authorities to clamp and remove unlicensed vehicles. Such partnerships already operate in the London boroughs of Newham, Lewisham, Croydon and Wandsworth. Other boroughs have expressed an interest in joining the scheme.
	DVLA's clamping contractor has to meet closely monitored targets for the number of vehicles clamped. The current target in the UK is over 1,000 vehicles per week. The overall impact of the wheel clamping scheme on the level of relicensing is regularly monitored by the Department's statisticians. The scheme consistently achieves a return of 3:1 when factors such as induced relicensing are taken into account.

Motorcycling Task Groups

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the (a) benefits and (b) value for money of each of the motorcycling task groups; what the outcome of each task group was; and when the task groups met.

David Jamieson: The Advisory Group on Motorcycling established five Task Forces to consider integration and traffic management, vehicle safety and security, environmental and fiscal issues, research and statistics. They have been meeting as necessary since 1999 and will continue to do so until they have completed their work in 2004. Their initial work was detailed in the Interim Report of the Advisory Group on Motorcycling, published in April 2001, and is available in the Libraries in the House.
	Some of the key work streams will not reach fruition until 2004. Even then it would be difficult to assess the value for money of the Task Forces. The nature of their work does not involve specific costs and benefits which can be quantified. However, the work of the Advisory Group is highly valued by Government and provides the motorcycling community with the opportunity to input to the development of motorcycling policy.

Network Rail

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if the head of the accountancy profession at his Department engaged in (a) correspondence, (b) discussions and (c) meetings with (i) his Department's Ministers or officials and (ii) Treasury Ministers or officials in relation to the establishment of Network Rail from October 2001 to September 2002; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if the head of the accountancy profession at the Department for Transport participated in meetings about the establishment, design and accounting for the successor organisation for Railtrack, between September 2001 and 4 July 2002; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The participation of DfT's head of accountancy profession in discussions about Network Rail was as follows:
	A meeting with Department officials on 15 April 2002 to discuss the likely accounting treatment of the CLG proposals based on UK GAAP and Treasury advice on Government accounting.
	A meeting with Department and Treasury officials, Strategic Rail Authority and accountancy advisers on 7 May 2002 to discuss likely accounting treatment from UK GAAP perspective.
	A meeting with National Audit Office, SRA and Department officials on 9 May 2002 to discuss the Network Rail proposals and the likely UK GAAP accounting treatment.
	A letter dated 4 July 2002 to the Office for National Statistics confirming the contingent liabilities.

Rail Franchise Holders (Hospitality)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what hospitality was received by (a) Ministers and (b) his special advisers from each rail franchise holder over the past 12 months.

David Jamieson: None.

South West Trains

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the franchise for South West Trains has been extended for one year with the possibility of an extension to 2007.

David Jamieson: The South West Trains franchise has been extended for one year, with the possibility of a further extension, to provide a period of stability while the Mark 1 trains are replaced, and to allow the Strategic Rail Authority time to negotiate a competitive re-letting.

Unlicensed Vehicles

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the estimated total number of unlicensed vehicles in the UK is represented by (a) London and (b) the south-east.

David Jamieson: The percentage of the estimated total number of unlicensed vehicles in the UK represented by (a) London is 11 per cent. and (b) the south-east is 14 per cent. assuming that Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Hampshire make up the south-east region.

Unlicensed Vehicles

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of unlicensed vehicles in the London area.

David Jamieson: It is estimated that there are around 171,000 unlicensed vehicles in the London area in 2001–02.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers

Rachel Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where each of the competitors in the UK's aircraft carrier competition is proposing to locate the final assembly of the two ships; and where each of the competitors is proposing to conduct the commissioning and acceptance of the vessels.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 10 December 2002
	Proposals for the construction of the new carriers have been submitted by the potential prime contractors and are currently being assessed within the Ministry of Defence. We expect to announce the preferred contractor early next year. The choice of final assembly location proposed by each bidder is a matter for them, but will be taken into account—along with a range of other factors—within that assessment period.

Ammunition

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the stocks of stockpiled ammunition have changed since 1997; and what measures there are to ensure that the armed forces have adequate reserves of ammunition in case of a crisis.

Lewis Moonie: Details of stockpiled ammunition are withheld under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. However, it can be confirmed that stockpile planning is subject to continuous review in order to ensure that the derived liabilities for munitions are robust and reflect current Defence Planning Assumptions.

Armed Forces Personnel (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Marines, (c) Army and (d) RAF personnel are stationed in Scotland, (i) in total and (ii) in each location; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The number of United Kingdom Regular personnel as at 1 April 2002 is given as follows. These figures include both trained and untrained personnel. They exclude FTRS, Gurkhas, Reserves mobilised for duty, and members of the Royal Irish Home Service. From these figures it is not possible to separate the Royal Marines from the Royal Navy figures.
	
		Total UK regular personnel in Scotland as at 1 April 2002
		
			  Naval Service(2) Army RAF 
		
		
			 Scotland 4,670 3,710 5,870 
			 City of Aberdeen — 10 — 
			 Aberdeenshire 0 0 360 
			 Angus 710 100 — 
			 Argyll and Bute 3,690 0 — 
			 City of Dundee 10 40 — 
			 City of Edinburgh 0 1,350 30 
			 Falkirk 0 — 0 
			 Fife 130 30 1,290 
			 City of Glasgow 20 1,250 20 
			 Highland — 510 10 
			 Inverclyde 10 0 0 
			 Midlothian 0 360 0 
			 Moray 0 — 4,020 
			 North Ayrshire 0 — — 
			 Perthshire and Kinross 0 40 O 
			 Renfrewshire 0 — — 
			 Shetland Islands 0 0 30 
			 South Ayrshire 100 — 100 
			 Stirling 0 10 0 
			 West Lothian 0 — 0 
			 Cornhaire nan Eilean Siar 0 — — 
		
	
	(2) These figures include both Royal Navy and Royal Marine personnel
	(3) Figures under 5 have been suppressed and all other figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	— denotes figure is 5 or under, and has therefore been suppressed to avoid disclosure.

Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on the PFI contract for the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency; whether the contract is on schedule; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Details of the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency's contract costs and performance against Key Targets for financial years 1997–98 to 2000–01 inclusive appear in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are held in the Library of the House.
	The Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year 2001–2002 should be published early in the New Year and will indicate that all Key Targets were met. Contract costs for the same period were some 64 million.

Armed Forces Widows (Northern Ireland)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) UDR and (b) RIR widows have been created as a direct result of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland since 1973; and how much money has been distributed by the Army Forces Pension Scheme to each class of widow since 1973.

Lewis Moonie: Between 1973 and 1992 there have been 103 UDR widows, two UDR widowers and six RIR widows as a direct result of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland. Information is being collated to determine the level of payments made through the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. I will write to the hon Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces Widows (Northern Ireland)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial assistance the widow of a soldier killed on duty will receive from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme.

Lewis Moonie: The widow of a soldier killed on duty as a result of his service will for the first three months receive a short-term pension at annual rate equal to her husband's annual rate of pay. After this period she receives a long-term attributable pension for herself and any children reflecting her husband's rank and linked to his rate of pay. The resulting benefits equate to around 90 per cent.of the members full career pension. From 31 October 2000, attributable widows' pensions have been paid for life, regardless of whether the widow remarries or cohabits with a man as her husband. In addition to the short and long-term pensions, she would receive a death-in-service gratuity equal to amount that would have been payable to the soldier on invaliding grounds, or if greater, twice the full career rate of the invaliding pension. An additional attributable gratuity is payable which is set according to the rank of the soldier. Benefits would also be paid under the War Pension Scheme.
	Arrangements are currently under review as part of an examination of pension and compensation arrangements for the Armed Forces, and widows' provisions are one area where we are considering improvements. We expect to make an announcement on this work early next year.

Armed Services (Fatalities)

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service men under the age of 18 years have suffered accidents involving firearms in each of the last five years.

Lewis Moonie: Information on accidents involving firearms and casualties is not held centrally by the Army and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. In the Royal Navy (RN), records of casualties indicate that one 17-year-old Royal Marine (RM) died as a result of a gunshot wound in training in 2000, but no other RN (or RM) personnel under 18 have been injured by firearms over the last five years. No RAF personnel under the age of 18 have suffered accidents involving firearms over the last five years.

Army Welfare Service

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) civilian and (b) military female members of staff of the Army Welfare Service are based in each of the agency's offices in Scotland.

Lewis Moonie: The Army Welfare Service currently employs three female members of staff in its offices in Scotland. One civilian and one military female member of staff are employed in Edinburgh. One further military female member of staff is employed in Inverness.

Army Welfare Service

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what routes of appeal are available to (a) civilian and (b) military members of staff of the Army Welfare Service who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the agency's internal complaints procedure.

Lewis Moonie: There is no specific internal complaint procedure for staff employed within the Army Welfare Service, further to that which is available to all military and Ministry of Defence civilian staff. Complaint procedure for military personnel is detailed within Army General Administrative Instructions Volume 2 Chapter 70—Management and Resolution of Complaints; further guidance is provided in Army General Administrative Instructions Volume 2 Chapter 75—Equal Opportunities Policy, Guidance and Instructions. Complaint procedure for civilian personnel is detailed within the Ministry of Defence Personnel Manual, Volume 13.

Battalion Strength

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  on what occasions in the past five years units have been detached from a battalion of the foot guards and attached to another battalion to bring that latter battalion up to strength for the purposes of operational deployment, giving in each case (a) the length of the period of detachment and (b) the date of the detached unit's return to its own battalion;
	(2)  when in the past five years battalions of the foot guards have been deployed for operational purposes;
	(3)  on what occasions in the past five years battalions of the foot guards have been brought up to strength for operational deployment by the attachment of units from other battalions, identifying for each occasion (a) the deployed battalion and (b) the source and size of the attached unit.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 3 December 2001
	Units which have, within the last five years, been detached from a battalion of the Foot Guards and attached to another battalion to bring mat battalion up to strength for the purposes of an operational deployment are detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 Battalion detached from Battalion detached to and reason Period of detachment 
		
		
			 1 Grenadier Guards Detached 26 men to 1 Scots Guards for a Northern Ireland tour May 2001-November 2001 
			
			 1 Coldstream Guards Detached 1 Platoon of 30 personnel to 1 Scots Guards for a Northern Ireland tour March 1998-October 1998 
			  Detached 1 Platoon of 30 personnel to 1 Irish Guards for a tour in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Kosovo February 1999-September 1999 
			  Detached 17 men to the Household Cavalry Regiment for a Bosnia tour May 1999-November 1999 
			  Detached 26 men to 1 Grenadier Guards for a Northern Ireland tour June 1999-December 1999 
			  Created a company to reinforce a resident Battalion in Northern Ireland October 2000- April 2002 
			
			 1 Scots Guards In common with other Residential Battalions in Northern Ireland detached individual reinforcements to meet various operational commitments March 1998-April 2000 
			
			 1 Irish Guards Have only detached personnel for routine procedures in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Kosovo.  
			
			 1 Welsh Guards Detached 1 Platoon of 30 personnel to 1 Scots Guards for a Northern Ireland tour March 1998-October 1998 
			  Detached 1 Company to 1 Devonshire and Dorset Regiment for a Northern Ireland tour October 2000- April 2001 
		
	
	Details of battalions of the Foot Guards which have, in the last five years, been deployed for operational purposes are show in the following table:
	
		
			 Battalion Period of operational deployment Area of operational deployment 
		
		
			 1 Grenadier Guards March 1996-March 1998 As a residential battalion in Northern Ireland 
			  June 1999-December 1999 Northern Ireland 
			  November 2001-May 2002 Northern Ireland 
			
			 1 Coldstream Guards September 1999-March 2000 Northern Ireland 
			  April 2000-now As a residential battalion in Northern Ireland 
			
			 1 Scots Guards March 1998-April 2000 As a residential battalion in Northern Ireland 
			  June 2000-July 2000 Northern Ireland 
			  March 2001-November 2001 Northern Ireland 
			
			 1 Irish Guards February 1999-September 1999 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Kosovo 
			
			 1 Welsh Guards October 2000-March 2001 Northern Ireland (one company only) 
			  March 2002-September 2002 Bosnia 
		
	
	Details of Foot Guard battalions which have been brought up to strength for operational deployment by the attachment of units from other battalions, within the last five years, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Deployed battalion Source and size of attached unit and deployment details 
		
		
			 1 Grenadier Guards Received 13 personnel from The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, 26 personnel from 1 Coldstream Guards and 26 personnel from 1 Duke of Wellington's Regiment from June 1999 to December 1999 for a Northern Ireland tour 
			   
			 1 Irish Guards Received 30 personnel from 1 Coldstream Guards from February 1999 to September 1999 for a tour in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Kosovo 
			   
			 1 Scots Guards Received 1 Platoon of 30 personnel from 1 Coldstream Guards and 1 Platoon of 30 personnel from 1 Welsh Guards from March 1998 to October 1998 for a Northern Ireland tour 
			  Received 26 personnel from 1 Grenadier Guards from May 2001 to November 2001 for a Northern Ireland tour 
			   
			 1 Welsh Guards While in Bosnia (March-September 2002), the battalion was reinforced by 84 reservists and Territorial Army personnel for Bosnia specific jobs. The battalion itself was at full strength

Bullying

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 19 November, Official Report, column 36W, how many complaints about bullying have been recorded in each year at the Dalton Barracks in Oxfordshire; and what measures have been taken to protect service personnel against bullying.

Lewis Moonie: Since 1 January 1999, the Royal Military Police has received one report of alleged assault/bullying at Dalton Barracks, Abingdon. The case was considered by the Commanding Officer and the individual found not guilty.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces on 4 November 2002, Official Report, column 57W to my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Mr. Grogan). Bullying and harassment in any form are not tolerated, and the Services incorporate procedures and undertake training at all levels in an attempt to raise awareness of these issues, minimise, and if possible eradicate, such practices.

Cadet Forces (Funding)

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria he uses to decide the level of funds for (a) the Sea Cadets, (b) the Army Cadets and (c) the Air Training Corps; and if he will make it his policy that the Sea Cadets are funded on an equal basis to the Army Cadets and Air Training Corps.

Lewis Moonie: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 3 December 2002 Official Report, columns 691–92W. The budget for the cadet organisations is reviewed in the same way as the rest of the Ministry of Defence. The budget is considered against the requirement to sustain a vigorous and vibrant youth organisation which sustains active membership for enrolled cadets. Risks to sustaining the cadet organisations are then considered alongside the other risks to the MOD's output targets. In the case of the Sea Cadet Corps, this process is based on the Corps's known annual requirements and any specific changing needs. Consideration is also given to the Sea Cadet Corps's other sources of income, on a year-by-year basis.

Challenger 2 Tanks

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he and his Department have held with Vickers Defence Systems regarding the modification of Challenger 2 tanks for desert conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: There has been a wide range of discussions with Alvis Vickers Ltd. (previously Vickers Defence Systems) related to the deployment of Challenger 2 in desert conditions. This dialogue continues and a Post Design Services enabling agreement with Alvis Vickers Limited was authorised at the end of October 2002 to deal specifically with the modification of Challenger 2 tanks for these environments.

Confidential Support Line

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have phoned the Army's confidential support line in each year since its formation; in what form statistical information about calls is monitored; and how general observations drawn by advice workers are passed on to appropriate authorities for action to prevent bullying.

Lewis Moonie: The purpose of the Army Confidential Support Line, which was established on 1 December 1991, is to provide a means of support to serving soldiers and their dependants, although calls may also be taken from members of the other Services, Ministry of Defence civilians and ex-Service personnel. The collation of statistics is not a primary function of the support staff and as no personal information is requested from any caller, those statistics which are available are, inevitably, incomplete. As such, no specific analysis of the available statistics is undertaken.
	Those statistics which are available for 1998–2001 are contained within the Soldiers Sailors Airmen's Families Association—Forces Help Confidential Support Line Annual Report 2001, a copy of which I will place in the Library of the House.

Deepcut/Catterick Barracks

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the balance is between civilian and ranking officer staff responsible for advice work carried out at (a) Deepcut and (b) Catterick Barracks by (i) the regimental medical office, (ii) the Padre, (iii) the unit welfare officer, (iv) the local army welfare worker and (v) the Women's Royal Voluntary Service welfare office.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Medical centre Padre Unit welfare office Army welfare service WRVS/Salvation Army(4)  
			  Civilian Military Civilian Military Civilian Military Civilian Military Civilian Military 
		
		
			 Deepcut 2 0 0 1 1(5) 0 1(5) 2(6) 2 0 
			 Catterick 7 1(4) 
			 1(6) 0 3(8) 2(9) 1(6) 1 4 5 0 
		
	
	(4) At Catterick.
	(5) Retired officer.
	(6) NCO.
	(7) Officer.
	(8) At present, shortly to become four.
	(9) Of which one is a retired officer.
	Note
	The information for Catterick is in respect of the Infantry Training Centre only.

Deepcut/Catterick Barracks

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many welfare agency case conferences have been held at (a) Deepcut and (b) Catterick Barracks since 1990; what venues have been used for the meetings; and on how many occasions each year the conferences have passed on concerns about bullying to the Officer Commanding.

Lewis Moonie: Given the number of agencies involved in the provision of welfare support, no central records of case conferences, or their venues, are maintained by either establishment. Catterick Garrison alone comprises the School of Infantry, seven other major and fifteen further minor units. Welfare meetings will vary across all units but may range from regular staff meetings to Commanding Officer's conferences. All cases of bullying which are reported to any welfare agency or the chain of command will be passed to the Commanding Officer for appropriate action.

Defence Establishments (State of Alert)

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the states of alert which are operated by defence establishments, and the criteria which apply in each case.

Lewis Moonie: I am withholding details on the states of alert operated across the various sectors in accordance with Exemption 1 (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Defence Industries (Employment)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how his Department calculates the number of people employed in and by defence related industries in the regions of the UK; what multiplier is used; and what the regional and national totals are.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 10 December 2002
	Estimates of employment can be determined as the addition of three elements. These are:
	Xdirect". The Xdirect" numbers are those employed in the supplying manufacturer i.e the company contracted by the Ministry of Defence to undertake the work, or the exporter;
	Xindirect". These include those indirectly employed through work generated in subcontractors and those who supply the main contractor. As well as manufacturers of products which are embodied in the final product, these will include suppliers of services e.g. consultants and electricity generators; and
	Xinduced", i.e. employment resulting from the additional consumer spending which arise from the direct and indirect employees.
	The Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) has never produced figures for the number of Xinduced" jobs. Estimates, however, have been calculated for UK direct and indirect employment dependent on (i) MOD equipment expenditure, (ii) MOD non-equipment expenditure, and (iii) defence exports. These have been published since 1992 in United Kingdom Defence Statistics (UKDS) and, before then, in Volume 2 of the Statement of Defence Estimates. The method of derivation is as follows:
	the Xfinal demand" of expenditure by (grouped) standard industrial categories is determined for MOD UK expenditure on equipment and non-equipment using information from MOD systems. Figures for exports are more problematic—various sources are used for these;
	direct employment. Using MOD final demand and turnover per (full-time equivalent) employee for the sectors involved, direct employment follows by division; and
	indirect employment. Total and indirect demand is calculated using the MOD final demand and (adapted) UK Input-Output Analytical Tables. The latest available Analytical Tables, which are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are for the year 1995. They were published in May 2002. The Analytical Tables are assumed to change slowly, so may be applied to years other than the ones for which they were prepared. There are various ways of deriving indirect employment. The one proposed by DASA is to calculate it as derived indirect demand divided by the appropriate rates (output at basic prices) for the sectors concerned. Such details are still subject to review (see below).
	The ONS has not published employment multipliers for the UK.
	DASA has been leading a review into the method for estimating employment dependent on MOD equipment and non-equipment expenditure and exports. One of the outcomes of the review is that regional estimates of direct equipment related employment should not be published as National Statistics any more. The underlying data are not of a good enough quality and they only ever represented less than a third of the total employment estimates.
	Estimates of regional indirect employment have never been prepared. They are more difficult to establish. Although Analytical Tables and multipliers are produced for some areas, for example, for Scotland (by the Scottish Executive), the calculation of employment would require knowledge of the volumes of Xexports" and Ximports" of MOD defence equipment from other regions. These data are not available. Analytical Tables are not produced by the ONS for the English regions.
	A detailed report on the calculation of the UK employment estimates has been prepared. This is currently being peer reviewed and will be made available on the DASA website.
	Provisional figures for the UK were published as Table 1.11 of UK Defence Statistics 2002, a copy of which is available from the Library of the House.
	
		
			  2000–01 (thousands)(10) 
		
		
			 Total employment 310 
			 Direct (total) 155 
			 Indirect (total) 150 
			 Employment from MOD expenditure (sub total) 235 
			 Equipment expenditure  
			 Direct 70 
			 Indirect 70 
			 Non-equipment expenditure  
			 Direct 55 
			 Indirect 40 
			 Employment from defence exports (sub total) 70 
			 Direct 30 
			 Indirect 40 
		
	
	(10) Provisional. The figures are rounded to the nearest 5,000. Differences between the totals and the sums are caused by the rounding.
	Although numbers are no longer published as National Statistics, the Defence Analytical Services Agency has continued to derive regional breakdowns of the direct MOD equipment expenditure. The latest, provisional, and, as indicated above, qualified figures are:
	
		
			  Direct employment (thousands)(11) 
		
		
			 Scotland 5 
			   
			 Wales 1 
			   
			 Northern Ireland 1 
			   
			 England  
			 North East 1 
			 Yorks and Humberside 1 
			 East Midlands 2 
			 Eastern 8 
			 London and South East 20 
			 South West 16 
			 West Midlands 2 
			 North West 15 
			 Total 72 
		
	
	(11) Provisional. The numbers calculated have been rounded to the nearest thousand, but are indicative only. The difference between 'region totals' and the 'UK total' is due to rounding anomalies.

Defensive Decoy System

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on (a) the defensive decoy system and (b) the active decoy round.

Lewis Moonie: The active decoy round forms part of the defensive decoy system, more usually known as the active off board decoy system. The other main element is the ship control system. The purpose of the decoy system is to provide improved defence against anti-ship missiles. It is planned to enter operational service in all major Royal Navy warships from early 2004.

Executive Agencies (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed by DERA; how many are based in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: DERA was disestablished on 1 July 2001, when two new organisations, QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), were created.
	QinetiQ is a plc, and therefore all operational inquiries should be addressed to the chief executive. Dstl remains a part of the Ministry of Defence. Dstl currently employs approximately 3,100 staff, of whom 52 are based in Scotland.

Industrial Policy

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the costs were of implementing the Ministry of Defence's industrial policy in the last 12 months.

Lewis Moonie: The Government's new defence industrial policy published on 14 October is not expected to incur any additional administrative costs to implement, nor do we envisage that it will entail additional costs to the equipment programme. The policy aims to enhance the competitiveness of United Kingdom industry and will therefore increase the value for money delivered to the taxpayer. A copy of the policy is in the Library of the House.

Lockheed Martin F35s

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many of the short take off and vertical landing versions of the new Lockheed Martin F35s have been ordered by the Ministry of Defence; and what he expects the costs to be of (a) the individual aircraft and (b) the cost of the entire procurement project;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the timetable for the short take-off and vertical landing versions of the Lockheed Martin F35s entering service with the Royal Navy and RAF; and if he expects this programme to remain within the Ministry of Defence's estimated budget.

Lewis Moonie: The current System Development and Demonstration Phase of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme began in October 2001. We announced on 30 September this year that the Short Take-Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the JSF had been selected to meet our Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA) requirement. The current planned United Kingdom in-service date is 2012.
	In order to align with the US acquisition cycle, we do not expect to place orders for JSF aircraft before 2006. The average UK unit production cost of the STOVL variant of JSF is estimated to be around $50 million US.
	The procurement cost for the FJCA programme, including certain spares and training facilities, is forecast to be up to #10 billion-working on a current planning assumption of 150 aircraft required. There is no reason to believe that the JCA programme will not remain within budget.

Medical Conditions

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what standard manuals of diagnostics and directories of medical conditions he relies in instances where his discretion is exercised on the basis of a medical opinion.

Lewis Moonie: It would be inappropriate for Ministers to intervene in clinical matters. Armed forces medical personnel and civilian medical practitioners employed by the Ministry of Defence consult numerous medical textbooks and other publications accepted by the medical and scientific community.

Military Training Sites

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will list the military training sites in the UK where live ammunition has been used since 1972 which have been accessible to the public on non-training days;
	(2)  what contracts the Ministry of Defence has with private contractors for searching for unexploded ordnance on Ministry of Defence training sites in the UK;
	(3)  which sites in the UK used for military training with live ammunition are accessible to the general public.

Lewis Moonie: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Missile Defence

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects his Department's programmes work on theatre missile defence will be published.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 2 December 2002
	I presume that the hon. Member is referring to the Technology Readiness and Risk Assessment Programme, an unclassified summary of which was released earlier this year and a copy placed in the Library of the House as confirmed in my answer to the hon. Member for Dover (Mr. Prosser) on 26 February 2002, Official Report, column 1134W. Further work on the technical and other issues associated with theatre missile defence is continuing.

Mr. Jack Palfrey Wakefield (Gratuity Payment)

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what records his Department maintains of individuals receiving a gratuity in respect of invalidity, on leaving HM armed forces, from 1941 to the present; and whether he has a record of a gratuity in respect of invalidity being paid to Mr. Jack Palfrey Wakefield, date of birth 24 September 1916, army serial number 1895475, formerly resident in Crewe.

Lewis Moonie: For members of the armed forces who have been invalided from service, records relating to consideration of entitlement to war pensions have been held on these cases by the Veterans Agency and its predecessors since prior to 1941. No war pensions files were destroyed until 1989 when a retention and destruction exercise was carried out. The criteria were that files were to be destroyed where no action had been taken on the case for more than 30 years, no pension was in payment and the claimant was over the age of 80.
	Under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, records containing details of invaliding gratuities paid are held by all three services for personnel who left between 1941 and the present day. How long these records are retained for depends on when the person left the armed forces. In general, the following applies:
	Left service between 1941–72:
	Where the pensioner dies and there is no widow/er or other dependant, the records would be destroyed after seven years for Royal Navy (RN) and Army personnel and after three years for RAF personnel. If not informed of this, records would be kept for 100 years from the date of the service member's birth for all three services. If there were a surviving widow/er, records would be destroyed some two to three years after the death of the spouse of RN and RAF personnel and seven years after the death of the spouse of Army personnel.
	Left service between 1973–present:
	Across all three services, records are retained for 100 years from the date of the service person's birth.
	Records are held relating to both Mr. Wakefield's entitlement to war disablement pension and to his armed forces pension. However, information from these records cannot be supplied as disclosure of personal information is prohibited under Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Nuclear Tests (South Pacific)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he has put in place for tracing and monitoring armed forces personnel who served between 1950 and 1965 and were involved in nuclear tests in the South Pacific during this period; how many of these servicemen have been traced; what proportion this represents; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 10 December 2002
	As is well known, the National Radiological Protection Board conducted two studies, reported in 1988 and 1993, which assessed incidences of cancers and mortality rates in test participants and a closely matched control group. The results of the third study are expected in 2003. At the outset, some 22,000 personnel were identified as participants from service and other records representing about 85 per cent. of those believed to have participated in the United Kingdom nuclear testing programme.

Nuclear Tests (South Pacific)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made since 1972 concerning the risk of cancer among the (a) military personnel and (b) civilian population surrounding the British nuclear testing in the Monte Bello Islands in the 1950s; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Two epidemiological studies of participants of the British nuclear test programme as a whole have been carried out on the Ministry of Defence's behalf by the National Radiological Protection Board. The results of these studies were published in 1988 and 1993. The studies showed that, as a group, participation in the tests has not had a detectable effect on the expectation of life, or on the risk of developing cancer or other fatal diseases by those who took part. No separate assessment has been made of those service personnel who took part in the tests on the Monte Bello Islands.
	The Monte Bello Islands were uninhabited and had no civilian population. In 1983 the Australian Ionising Radiation Advisory Council reassessed levels of radiation which had reached the Australian mainland from the tests on the Monte Bello Islands. It was concluded that exposure to radiation by the civilian population had been insignificant.

Nuclear Waste

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total volume was of nuclear waste produced and requiring storage by (a) his Department and (b) military installations in each year since 1990, broken down by (i) the level of waste and (ii) whether the waste is in temporary or permanent storage; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: No central records are held on volumes of nuclear waste produced and requiring storage for each year since 1990. However, I refer the hon. Member to the XUnited Kingdom Radioactive Waste Inventory" to which the Ministry of Defence contributes, and which provides periodic snapshots on radioactive waste stocks, including levels of waste, location and whether the waste is held in temporary or permanent storage. The inventory has previously been published to show snapshots of waste stocks in 1991 and 1994, and a copy of the most recent inventory, for 1998, is available in the Library of the House. A new inventory, for 2001, is being completed and will be published shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Nuclear Waste

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many decommissioned nuclear submarines have been awaiting waste treatment and storage for each year since 1990; where they are; what steps are being planned to tackle the task; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Since 1990, 10 nuclear-powered submarines have been decommissioned, and are stored safely afloat.
	
		
			 Submarine Date decommissioned Afloat storage location 
		
		
			 Churchill 1990 Rosyth Dockyard 
			 Warspite 1990 HMNB Devonport 
			 Conqueror 1991 HMNB Devonport 
			 Swiftsure 1991 Rosyth Dockyard 
			 Courageous 1992 HMNB Devonport 
			 Revenge 1992 Rosyth Dockyard 
			 Resolution 1994 Rosyth Dockyard 
			 Valient 1994 HMNB Devonport 
			 Renown 1996 Rosyth Dockyard 
			 Repulse 1996 Rosyth Dockyard 
		
	
	As soon as possible after a nuclear-powered submarine leaves naval service, the reactor is de-fuelled and the vessel prepared for safe storage afloat. Daily inspections and annual maintenance periods are carried out to ensure the vessel is maintained to a high standard of preservation and safety.
	We are currently considering options for land storage of radioactive waste from nuclear powered submarines (the ISOLUS Study) and we will shortly be seeking proposals from industry. These will inform a public consultation and, following detailed negotiations, a preferred bidder will be selected. This is expected to take around three years to complete. The aim is to have the land storage facility in service by 2012.

RAF West Freugh

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether depleted uranium shells or projectiles manufactured in other NATO countries have been tested at RAF West Freugh in Galloway; whether aircraft operated by other NATO countries have used the base for training or experimenting with depleted uranium munitions; and if he will make a statement on progress made with radioactive remediation at the West Freugh test range.

Lewis Moonie: Experimental firings of the Phalanx weapons system, which uses depleted uranium rounds (DU), took place at West Freugh in 1988 and 1990. The firings involved rounds that were manufactured in the United Kingdom from DU processed in the USA. No aircraft were involved in the tests, and there has been no further use of the West Freugh range for DU firings. A subsequent radiological survey of beach, sand and seawater by staff from the AtomicWeapons Establishment concluded that there was no detectable contamination.

Research Contracts

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department is spending on research contracts in each region; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The net expenditure outturn for the Ministry of Defence's major customers research budgets as published in the Consolidated Departmental Resource Accounts for financial year 2000–02, was #1 billion. It is not possible to provide a regional breakdown of research expenditure from available data.

Reserve Forces

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the per capita per annum cost per rank of (a) regular personnel, (b) the RNR, (c) the RMR, (d) the TA and (e) the RAuxAP; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The capitation rates for regular personnel show the average annual cost. They include pay, allowances, earnings-related National Insurance contributions and superannuation as well as allowances for support, training and higher formation costs.
	The rates for Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel include pay, earnings— related National Insurance contributions and superannuation Information for the Territorial Army and Royal Auxiliary Air Force cost is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I am therefore unable to provide a substantive answer under the terms of exemption 9 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
	However, capitation rates are produced for the Army Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) and the RAF FTRS, and these are listed as follows:
	
		
			 Rank Capitation rate Royal Navy Capitation rate Royal Navy Reserve FTRS 
		
		
			 Captain 125,196 87,257 
			 Commander 109,002 74,770 
			 Lieutenant Commander 82,724 64,369 
			 Lieutenant 67,273 47,492 
			 Sub Lieutenant 61,987 37,568 
			 Midshipman 42,729 27,851 
			 Warrant Officer 63,493 39,997 
			 Charge Chief Petty Officer 59,781 37,705 
			 Chief Petty Officer 56,703 35,526 
			 Petty Officer 51,559 31,279 
			 Leading Rate 46,441 27,394 
			 Able Rate 35,072 19,291 
			 Colonel 125.196 87,257 
			 Lieutenant Colonel 109,002 74,770 
			 Major 82,724 64,369 
			 Captain 67,273 47,492 
			 Lieutenant 61,987 37,568 
			 Second Lieutenant 42,729 27,851 
			 WO1 63,493 39,997 
			 W02 59,781 37,705 
			 Colour Sergent 56,703 35,526 
			 Sergeant 51,559 31,279 
			 Corporal 46,441 27,394 
			 Lance Corporal 40,011 — 
			 Marine 35,072 19,291 
			 Colonel 125,598 74,770 
			 Lieutenant Colonel 109,404 64,369 
			 Major 83,126 47,492 
			 Captain 67,674 37,568 
			 Lieutenant 52,389 27,851 
			 Second Lieutenant 43,131 21,927 
			 W01 63,895 39,997 
			 W02 60,183 37,705 
			 Staff Sergenant 57,105 35,526 
			 Sergeant 51,961 31,278 
			 Corporal 46,843 37,394 
			 Lance Corporal 40,413 23,592 
			 Private 35,475 19,291 
			 Group Captain 125,386 74,770 
			 Wing Commander 109,192 64,369 
			 Squadron Leader 82,914 47,492 
			 Flight Lieutenant 67,462 37,568 
			 Flag Officer 52,177 27,851 
			 Pilot Officer 42,919 21,927 
			 Warrant Officer 63,682 39,997 
			 Flight Sergeant 59,970 37,705 
			 Chief Technician 56,892 35,526 
			 Sergeant 51,748 31,278 
			 Corporal 46,630 37,394 
			 SAC 40,173 23,592 
			 LAC  19,291

Royal Navy Vessels

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessels will be fitted with (a) the upgraded Type 1022 Radar and (b) the Type 996 Radar; and if he will make a statement on the increased capability this will provide.

Lewis Moonie: Radar Type 1022 is fitted to Type 42 Destroyers and Invincible Class Carriers. At present, there are no plans to upgrade the Radar but, as part of the normal planning process, consideration is being given to an upgrade that would deliver performance improvements in specific operating environments.
	Radar Type 996 is in service with Type 42 Destroyers, Type 23 Frigates and Invincible Class Carriers, and is also being fitted to the new Landing Platform Dock (Replacement) vessels, the first of which is expected to come into service next year. Two programmes have been undertaken to improve the Radar's performance and availability. A further programme, to increase the Radar's capability against future airborne and surface threats, is currently in its assessment phase.

Sea Dart Missile

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the infra red fuse to be fitted to the Sea Dart missile.

Lewis Moonie: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 4 December 2002, Official Report, column 815W.

Sea Harrier

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact the withdrawal of the Sea Harrier FA2 will have on the Royal Navy's ability to defend its ships against an attack from the AS17/Krypton anti-ship missile; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Royal Navy Task Groups will retain a significant air defence capability after the Sea Harrier is withdrawn from service in 2006, including against AS17/Krypton anti ship missiles. Task Groups typically include Type 42 Anti Air Warfare Destroyers armed with updated Sea Dart anti-aircraft missiles, Type 22 and 23 Frigates armed with Point Defence Missile Systems (including the enhanced Sea Wolf missile system) and Close in Weapons Systems. Many other Task Group warships will also include air defence assets for self protection and decoy systems against air and surface launched anti-ship missiles.
	The upgraded Sea King airborne early warning aircraft has now entered service providing an improved detection capability over land and sea. Additionally, from late 2007 onwards the Type 42 Destroyers will be replaced by the Type 45 Destroyers, fitted with the highly capable Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS).

Service Personnel (Deaths)

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the results were of the investigations into the circumstances of the deaths of (a) Private Paul Cochrane on 30 July 2001 at Drumadd Barracks, Northern Ireland, (b) Private David Shipley in June 2002, in Germany, (c) Private Richard Robertson on 21 September 1995 at Catterick Barracks, (d) Private Gary Riches in Bosnia on 24 October 1995, (e) Private Alfred Manship in Osnabruck on 6 April 1992, (f) Private Dale Little in Bosnia on 22 July 1994 and (g) Trooper Aled Martin Jones in Bosnia on 18 July 1996; in each case, what time the police were called; what steps were taken to secure evidence at the scene of death; what the conclusions of the inquiry were; what the nature of the post mortem examination was; by whom it was carried out; what the findings were; when relatives of the deceased were informed; what the conclusion was of the coroner's inquest; when a board of inquiry was established; when it reported; and what measures were taken as a result of its findings;
	(2)  what the result has been of the investigation into the circumstances of the death in 1997 of Private Ross Collins of Nanstallon near Bodmin in Cornwall; at what time the police were called; what steps were taken to secure evidence at the scene of death; what the conclusions were of their inquiry; what the nature was of the post mortem examination; by whom it was carried out; what the findings were; at what time relatives of the deceased were informed; what the conclusion was of the Coroner's Inquest; when a board of inquiry was established and what date it reported; and what measures were taken as a result of its findings.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, if at all, as we do not know whether all of it is held on departmental files. Furthermore, information pertaining to the associated police investigations and boards of inquiry would not normally be placed in the public domain. Only the death of Trooper Aled Jones has, so far, been subject to a board of inquiry; a copy of the final report was passed to the next of kin in 1997. A board of inquiry into the death of Ranger Paul Cochrane is on-going. No decision has yet been made as to whether a board of inquiry will be held into the death of Private David Shipley; this is subject to an on-going investigation by the Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch, who have jurisdiction in this case. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to release any related information at this time.
	Coroner's verdicts, in those cases where an inquest has been held, are as follows:
	
		
			 Name Verdict 
		
		
			 Private Richard Robertson Open 
			 Fusilier Gary Riches Open 
			 Sapper Alfred Manship Suicide 
			 Private Dale Little Open 
			 Trooper Aled Jones Suicide 
			 Musician Ross Collins Open 
		
	
	According to our records, the deaths of Privates Little and Riches occurred on 22 July 1995 and 25 October 1995 respectively.

Supporting Britain's Reservists and Employer Programme

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the establishment of the Supporting Britain's Reservists and Employer programme.

Lewis Moonie: The Strategic Defence Review required the Reserve Forces to be integrated, relevant and usable. To ensure this requirement is met we need the support of those who employ members of the Volunteer Reserve Forces.
	During the last 18 months the Ministry of Defence has carried out a review of its existing and long-standing campaign designed to win and maintain the support of Britain's employers for the Volunteer Reserve Forces. This has resulted in the launch of a new campaign called SaBRE (Supporting Britain's Reservists and Employers). Its purpose is to explain to employers not only the benefits of employing Reservists but also the attendant rights and obligations that employers have, including the requirement to release individuals for mobilisation should it be necessary to do so.The SaBRE campaign has already made good progress. Its strategy is to make use of the expertise available in the commercial world combined with a regional network of civilian volunteers, to deliver a campaign with a national identity at a regional level. A number of organisations, including the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Engineering Employers' Federation and the Trades Union Congress together with some 6,200 companies, who between them account for a substantial part of the nation's workforce, have previously declared their support for the Reserves of the Armed Forces.

Trafalgar Bicentennial

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to mark the Bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence is working closely with a number of organisations to develop the Royal Navy's plans for the commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005. Lead by the Official Nelson Celebrations Committee, which brings together the interests of a wide range of maritime museums and associations connected with the Nelson heritage, a national and international programme of cultural and commemorative events is being discussed, among which a number of events involving the Royal Navy are being considered. At this stage, it is too early to be precise.

Unexploded Ordnance

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when and where unexploded ordnance has been found by contractors when clearing publicly accessible military training sites for construction and infrastructure projects since 1972;
	(2)  when and where in the UK unexploded ordnance has been found by persons not employed by the Ministry of Defence on (a) byelawed and (b) non-byelawed land since 1972.

Lewis Moonie: The information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Unexploded Ordnance

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the discovery of unexploded ordnance by Transco in the Brecon Beacons area.

Lewis Moonie: An amount of unexploded ordnance, believed to date from the Second World War period, was found earlier this year by Transco while working on a pipeline scheme in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The police were informed and the ordnance was subsequently disposed of by the Army.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Abattoirs

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make funds available to enable abattoirs to provide additional space for hanging carcasses of animals over 30 months old slaughtered under the Beef Assurance Scheme separately from other animals.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 9 December 2002
	EU rules require that cattle for human consumption must be tested for BSE if aged over 30 months or, if subject to casualty slaughter or found sick at ante-mortem inspection, if aged over 24 months. In the event of a positive result, the carcase before and two carcasses after the positive case on the slaughter line must be destroyed unless there is a system in place preventing contamination between carcasses. The latter does not necessarily require significant extra space but this is a matter for the Official Veterinary Surgeon in individual abattoirs. There are no funds available to provide abattoirs with additional space.

Agriculture Expenditure

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money is being reclaimed by the European Commission from the United Kingdom because of inadequate control procedures or non-compliance with EU rules on agricultural expenditure.

Elliot Morley: In 2001, the UK claimed #2.5 billion from the EU agriculture budget. Of this, #3 million was reclaimed due to non-compliance with EU rules on agricultural expenditure (which includes control procedures). The Commission has the right to reclaim further sums should additional cases of non-compliance come to light.

Albatrosses

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates she makes, in respect of the last year for which figures are available, of the number of albatrosses killed within United Kingdom waters as a by-product of fishing by (a) Spanish and (b) other vessels; what percentage of the United Kingdom population this represents; and what steps she is taking to prevent such deaths.

Elliot Morley: Although the metropolitan United Kingdom is outside the normal migration range of albatrosses, there are globally important breeding sites in UK Overseas Territories in the Southern Hemisphere.
	While there are no overall figures available, we do have information about the Falkland Islands, where the breeding population of albatrosses is about 382,000 pairs. Recent estimates of bycatch there have included between 85 and 193 albatrosses in a year in licensed long-line fisheries, and about 1,000 during the peak spring fishing season from licensed trawling (some three quarters of which is carried out by Spanish vessels). There will also be losses to illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries.
	The UK and Spain are Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the Commission of which is responsible for managing fisheries in the Convention area and imposes conditions aimed at reducing bycatch.
	The UK intends to ratify early next year the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, which will require UK flag vessels fishing in the Agreement area to implement measures designed to mitigate bycatch. Our ratification will be extended to those Overseas Territories that wish to implement the Agreement and have appropriate legislation in place. Spain has also signed this Agreement.
	The Falkland Islands Government is funding Falklands Conservation to study the effect on mortality resulting from birds being attracted to vessels by offal discarded as a by-product of on-board fish processing.

Beef Exports

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much UK produced beef has been exported by (a) weight and (b) value in the last five years for which figures are available; and how much of these exports comprised (i) beef of UK origin and (ii) beef of foreign origin.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 December 2002
	Official overseas trade statistics do not differentiate between beef of UK origin and beef of foreign origin.
	The following table shows the volume and value of UK exports of beef and beef products between 1997 and 2001.
	
		
			  Beef Beef products  
			  Tonnes #000 Tonnes #000 
		
		
			 1997 6,061 15,104 4,030 6,626 
			 1998 4,884 12,157 7,746 6,110 
			 1999 5,647 19,720 3,708 5,598 
			 2000 5,387 20,983 3,884 6,070 
			 2001 5,409 18,763 2,963 5,616 
		
	
	Sources:
	HM Customs and Excise.
	Data prepared by Statistics (Commodities and Food) Accounts and Trade, ESD, DEFRA.

Bio-Security

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she intends to introduce voluntary disposal bins for meat products at UK immigration points.

Elliot Morley: As indicated by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in the House on 21 November 2002, there are a number of concerns on how in practice amnesty bins for illegal meat would operate. These issues continue to be examined. Decisions which will also take account of the planned transfer of the responsibility for anti-smuggling checks to HM Customs and Excise, will be made as soon as possible.

Bio-Security

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason UK landing cards have not been amended to reflect bio-security measures.

Elliot Morley: An inter-departmental 'borders' group exists to look at amendments to the immigration card. Defra asked them to consider amendments to the card to include provisions about meat imports, either in a way that would be covered by a signed declaration, or a prominent Warning Note.
	The group has also identified a number of other issues which might need to be covered in a revised version of the landing card, including other prohibitions and restrictions. No firm conclusions have yet been reached on the best way forward.

Brucellosis

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has carried out concerning whether the Yersinia organism can affect the blood test for Brucellosis in cattle; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 December 2002
	Exposure to Yersinia enterocolitica in some cattle is known to cause cross reaction to serological tests for exposure to Brucella abortus.
	DEFRA is currently funding a brucellosis research programme which is being carried out by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) at Weybridge. This research includes a project to differentiate between serological cross reactions and other reactors identified in the surveillance of brucellosis in cattle.

Brucellosis

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) suspected and (b) confirmed cases of Brucellosis were recorded in cattle in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 December 2002
	Great Britain is officially brucellosis free. An ongoing national brucellosis screening programme has identified a number of serological reactors over the years but Brucella abortus has not been isolated in any of those animals since October 1993. The numbers of serological reactors and suspect contact animals identified in each year since 1997 are as follows.
	
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 1997 16 
			 1998 51 
			 1999 67 
			 2000 11 
			 2001 20 
			 2002 (to date) 18

CHP Plant

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of how much combined heat and power plant has been (a) withdrawn and (b) created in each of the last five years.

Elliot Morley: A separate assessment of CHP plant withdrawn and created is not available. The net increase in Good Quality CHP electrical capacity in each of the last five years is taken from the most recent Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES, 2002):
	
		
			  Increase in MWe 
		
		
			 1997 150 
			 1998 292 
			 1999 239 
			 2000 844 
			 2001 38

Departmental Assets

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library a list of those assets identified by the National Asset Register, Cm 5221, as belonging to (a) the former Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions and (b) the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and their respective agencies, non-departmental bodies and public corporations, which now belong to her Department, together with the current value of each such asset.

Margaret Beckett: The National Asset Register (NAR) was last updated for March 2000 and published in June 2001. Our understanding is that it is updated every five years.
	Defra has a Departmental Asset Register (DAR) which lists all assets held currently for its core activities with current values. This does not include details of assets held by its agencies and NDPBs. It does include assets transferred from the former Department of Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR) to Defra in June 2001.
	With the changes to the machinery of government, to provide the information requested considerable work would have to be done on the DAR to reflect and reconcile with what was listed in the NAR Cm 5221. We would also have to request detailed lists from all of our agencies, NDPBs and public corporations of assets included in the NAR with current values.
	The compilation of the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	I will arrange for a copy of the Defra DAR, which is currently being updated to be placed in Library of the House in early January.

Discharges into the Envrionment

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many locations there are where (a) acid and (b) other discharges from (i) mine, (ii) landfill sites, (iii) radioactive waste storage sites and (iv) animal burial mounds workings have been identified as (A) exceeding permitted levels and (B) resulting in poor river quality in nearby river courses broken down by individual sites, in each year since 1997; what action has been taken or is planned as a result; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency is currently updating its information on mine waters, landfills and burial grounds. The agency should be able to provide a comprehensive answer by the new year, and I will write when it is available.
	However, I understand that since 1997 no radioactive discharges from radioactive waste storage sites have exceeded permitted levels or resulted in poor water quality in river courses.

Drinking Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research has been (a) conducted for her Department and (b) assessed by her Department on a potential link between drinking water and blue baby syndrome; what representations have been received; what discussions have taken place; and if she will place copies of the research in the Library.

Elliot Morley: The term Xblue baby syndrome" is sometimes used to refer to infantile methaemoglobinaemia. This is a condition in which the pigment in the blood is altered and its ability to carry oxygen is impaired. Nitrate, nitrite and bacterial contamination of water supplies are among the potential causes. The condition is very rare—there have been no confirmed cases of methaemoglobinaemia in the UK since 1972. I am not aware of any recent reports that this condition is attributable directly to public water supplies within the United Kingdom.
	The Department is aware of the studies that have established a relationship between methaemoglobin levels and nitrate levels, but has not conducted, commissioned or assessed any recent research on the link. Discussions and review of current scientific research take place within expert groups of the World Health Organisation, who expect to finalise the third edition of its XGuidelines for Drinking Water" in February 2003. Any changes in the guidelines will be considered by the European Commission and my Department.
	The Department has received regular correspondence about the Nitrates Directive and also meets stakeholder groups. Officials have also replied to letters from or on behalf of farmers, for example from Farmers for Action, about the nitrate standard and health, including blue baby syndrome.

English Nature

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice her Department has issued to English Nature regarding environmental assessments necessary under the Conservation Regulations 1994 for the extraction of marl in the Fal and Helford Candidate Special Area of Conservation.

Elliot Morley: I believe my hon. Friend is referring to Maerl.
	Comments on the scope and process by which English Nature could offer management scheme advice was given in writing on 25 October 2000. No further advice has been issued. In the first instance it is the responsibility of competent authorities, such as the Falmouth Harbour Commissioners, to satisfy themselves that they are exercising their functions in compliance with the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994.

Environment Agency

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total budget of the Environment Agency is in 2002–03; and how this budget has changed since 1998–99.

Michael Meacher: The Environment Agency's planned expenditure for 2002–03 totals #758.212 million—an increase of #165.211 million over the Agency's expenditure in 1998–99.

Farm Businesses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) farms and (b) farmers were in business in each region in each year since 1990.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 December 2002
	The number of (a) holdings and (b) farmers by region in England 1990, 1995–2001. Data for 1991–94 is currently not available by Government office region.
	
		
			 Government office region 1990 1995 1996 1997 
		
		
			 North-east region  
			 Total holdings 5,243 5,202 5,200 5,178 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 7,895 7,745 7,752 7,768 
			  
			 North-west region, inc. Merseyside 
			 Total holdings 18,603 17,665 17,533 17,397 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 27,598 26,461 26,412 26,199 
			  
			 Yorkshire and Humberside region 
			 Total holdings 16,782 16,195 16,094 16,042 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 24,790 23,896 23,778 23,715 
			 East Midlands region 
			 Total holdings 16,624 16,256 16,052 15,799 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 24,032 23,406 23,262 23,058 
			  
			 West Midlands region 
			 Total holdings 19,233 18,761 18,847 18,871 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 27,336 26,751 26,971 26,912 
			  
			 East of England region 
			 Total holdings 18,651 17,716 17,574 17,326 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 26,353 24,883 24,676 24,254 
			  
			 Greater London 
			 Total holdings 478 431 418 400 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 658 622 593 580 
			  
			 South-east region 
			 Total holdings 19,502 18,464 18,286 18,161 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 25,717 24,395 24,214 24,050 
			  
			 South-west region 
			 Total holdings 35,537 35,419 35,634 35,603 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 50,013 49,891 50,149 49,885 
		
	
	
		
			 Government office region 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 England 
			  
			 Total holdings 150,653 146,109 145,638 144,777 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 214,392 208,050 207,807 206,421 
			  
			 North-east region 
			 Total holdings 5,144 5,280 5,674 6,073 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 7,829 7,779 8,105 8,598 
			  
			 North-west region, inc. Merseyside 
			 Total holdings 17,374 17,609 20,492 21,048 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 26,059 25,546 27,538 28,682 
			  
			 Yorkshire and Humberside region 
			 Total holdings 15,996 16,204 18,530 19,661 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 23,774 23,289 25,695 27,280 
			  
			 East Midlands region 
			 Total holdings 15,760 15,715 17,754 19,095 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 22,631 21,925 23,839 25,433 
			  
			 West Midlands region 
			 Total holdings 18,903 19,161 22,281 23,247 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 26,796 26,312 29,524 31,076 
			  
			 East of England region 
			 Total holdings 17,224 17,064 19,357 21,054 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 23,844 22,934 25,870 27,325 
			  
			 Greater London 
			 Total holdings 399 402 424 434 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 538 491 520 543 
			  
			 South-east region 
			 Total holdings 18,645 18,921 20,937 22,461 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 23,683 23,376 25,642 27,673 
			  
			 South-west region 
			 Total holdings 35,648 36,864 42,406 44,861 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 49,383 48,651 54,198 57,218 
			  
			 England 
			 Total holdings 145,093 147,220 167,855 177,934 
			 Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 204,537 200,303 220,931 233,828 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for 2000 and 2001 include minor holdings.
	2. Spouses are included only if working on the holdings.
	3. Between 2000 and 2001 a register improvement exercise took place which resulted in the addition of holdings not previously included in the Census. An increase in the number of holdings was also seen after the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak.
	Source:
	June Agricultural and Horticultural Census.

Farmers

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 20 November 2002, Official Report, column 159W, on farmers, what the average age of farmers was in (a) 1990, (b) 1993, (c) 1995, (d) 1997 and (e) 2000 broken down by (i) sex, (ii) whether they were owners or tenants and (iii) whether they were full or part time.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 December 2002
	Pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Gentleman on 20 November, further information on the average age of farmers in England, broken down by the categories requested, is given in the table.
	
		
			  1990 1993 1995 1997 2000 
		
		
			  
			 England 
			 Gender 
			 Male 53 53 54 53 54 
			 Female 55 54 55 54 55 
			   
			 Land tenure  
			 Own all land 53 54 55 54 55 
			 Rent all land 52 52 52 52 52 
			 Part owned/part rented 53 53 54 53 53 
			   
			 Working time  
			 Full-time 53 53 53 53 53 
			 Part-time 53 53 54 53 54 
		
	
	Source:
	EC Farm Structure Surveys.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the aquis communautaire on fisheries will be fully implemented by Poland on the first day of her accession to the European Union.

Elliot Morley: Negotiation of the Fisheries Chapter was provisionally closed with Poland in June 2002. In the negotiations Poland fully accepted, and undertook to implement by the date of accession, the aquis communautaire for fisheries. Agreement on access to resources and catch quotas for all candidates is currently under discussion.

Flood Cover

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his answer of 3 December 2002, Ref: 84186, on flood cover, what actions she is taking to ensure that those homes who will not get continued provision of flood insurance get cover; and how many homes the Association of British Insurers has told the Government will not continue to be provided with flood insurance.

Elliot Morley: The Association of British Insurers (ABI) have advised us that, for those homes unprotected to their minimum standard and unlikely to be so by 2007, they will consider each case on an individual basis using their best efforts to provide some form of cover. The ABI has not given the Government any specific figures relating to numbers of homes which will not continue to be provided with flood insurance.

Flood Defence Committees

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers the Flood Defence Committee has to add items to the budget of the Environment Agency.

Elliot Morley: The Flood Defence Committees' budgets are separately identified within the overall budget of the Environment Agency. Each Committee sets its own budget for the year based on its programme of works, and contributes towards the general cost of running the Environment Agency's Flood Defence service.

Flood Defence Committees

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many flood defence committees there are in England and Wales.

Elliot Morley: There are nine Regional Flood Defence Committees in England and one in Wales. There are statutory Local Flood Defence Committees in Anglian, Southern and Wessex Regions and in Wales. In the North West region there are three non-statutory advisory committees.
	All committees are listed below:
	1. Anglian Region
	Local committees (5): Lincolnshire, Welland and Nene, Great Ouse, Norfolk and Suffolk, Essex.
	2. Northumbrian Region
	No local committees.
	3. North West Region
	Non statutory advisory committees (3): Cumberland, Lancashire, Mersey and Weaver.
	4. Severn Trent Region
	No local committees.
	5. Southern Region
	Local committees (3): Isle of Wight and Hampshire, Sussex, Kent.
	6. South West Region
	No local committees.
	7. Thames Region
	No local committees.
	8. Wessex Region
	Local committees (3): Bristol Avon, Somerset, Avon and Devon.
	9. Yorkshire Region
	No local committees.
	10. Wales
	Local committees (6): Dee and Clywd, Gwynedd, South West Wales, Wye, Usk, Glamorgan.

Flood Defence Committees

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidelines have been set for appointments by her to flood defence committees; and how many on the committees she appoints.

Elliot Morley: My right hon. Friend appoints the Chairman and a number of members to each of the English Regional Flood Defence Committees (RFDCs). Sections 15–19 of, and Schedules 4 and 5 to, the Environment Act 1995 set out the statutory basis for these appointments and the rules concerning composition of the committees.
	RFDCs vary in size but always contain a bare majority of persons appointed by local authorities. The Environment Agency appoints two members and my right hon. Friend appoints the Chairman and the remaining members one of whom is normally appointed to represent environmental and conservation interests. When making these appointments, my right hon. Friend adheres to guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
	My right hon. Friend does not make appointments to Local Flood Defence Committees. The Chair is appointed from among the RFDC members; other members are appointed by the RFDC and constituent local authorities again to form a bare majority.
	The composition of each RFDC is as follows:
	Anglian RFDC:
	One Chairman and six members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	10 members (Local Authority appointed)
	Northumbria RFDC:
	One Chairman and five members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	Nine members (Local Authority appointed)
	North West RFDC:
	One Chairman and four members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	Eight members (Local Authority appointed)
	Severn Trent RFDC:
	One Chairman and seven members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	11 members (Local Authority appointed)
	Southern RFDC:
	One Chairman and five members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	Nine members (Local Authority appointed)
	South West RFDC:
	One Chairman and five members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	Nine members (Local Authority appointed)
	Thames RFDC:
	One Chairman and eight members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	12 members (Local Authority appointed)
	Wessex RFDC:
	One Chairman and four members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	Eight members (Local Authority appointed)
	Yorkshire RFDC:
	One Chairman and three members (Defra appointed)
	Two members (Environment Agency appointed)
	Seven members (Local Authority appointed)

Floods

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many organisations coordinate control of particular areas of high risk from flooding in conjunction with non-governmental organisations; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Defra has policy responsibility for flood and coastal defence in England. Operational responsibility for flooding from main rivers and the sea rests with the Environment Agency. The Agency is also responsible for flood warning arrangements and exercises a general supervision over all matters relating to flood defence. Operational responsibility for flooding from ordinary watercourses rests with the relevant local authority or, in areas where they exist, the relevant internal drainage board. Emergency planning arrangements are the responsibility of the local authority.
	The responsibilities for flood and coastal defence are currently being reviewed along with the funding arrangements. I expect to make an announcement in the new year.

Floods

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what alternative plans there are to the sluice for Bridgwater and the Parrett for the protection of Bridgwater and the surrounding area from flooding.

Elliot Morley: Defra provides grant to local operating authorities for flood defence capital works that meet certain criteria. However responsibility for deciding which projects to promote and their timing rests with the operating authorities, in this case the Environment Agency.
	I understand that the Agency is undertaking studies into viable options for flood management measures for Bridgwater but as yet they have not submitted any proposals to Defra for grant aid.

Illegal Imports

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to inform (a) residents and (b) visitors to the UK of the rule change on 1 January regarding the personal import allowances for animal products from their countries.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 December 2002
	We will provide information on the new rules for personal imports as part of our ongoing campaign to highlight to travellers the risks posed by illegal imports. This campaign has already used a variety of methods, including posters, leaflets, information videos, and interviews. Future publicity highlights include having a Defra presence at XDestinations 2003" and XThe Holiday Show 2003". Our publicity campaign remains under constant review.
	Specifically to highlight the new rules, the poster detailing the personal allowances for personal imports of plant and animal products is being updated. It will be displayed at ports of entry into the UK and aimed at travellers arriving from outside the EU.
	We are continuing to work with our posts and embassies abroad to raise awareness of our import rules at points of departure.

Illegal Imports

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many seizures of illegal imports there were, broken down by (a) weight and (b) region in each of the last five years.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 December 2002
	A central database of illegal animal product seizures notified to DEFRA was set up in April 2001.
	
		From 31 March 2001 to 30 March 2002
		
			 Region Number of seizures Weight (kg) 
		
		
			 England 2,040 113,082 
			 Wales 2 13 
			 Scotland 10 50 
			 Northern Ireland 14 28 
			 Total 2,066 113,173 
		
	
	
		From 31 March 2002 to 6 December 2002
		
			 Region Number of seizures Weight (kg) 
		
		
			 England 2,042 29,707 
			 Wales 4 23 
			 Scotland 155 595 
			 Northern Ireland 168 1,386 
			 Total 2,369 31,711

Illegal Imports

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 230W, which regions have been targeted for additional checks on passenger baggage and freight for illegal imports.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 December 2002
	Additional checks are being carried out by teams at three major seaports and two airports. One of these teams will also operate at other airports around the country.
	Specific details of staff and ports of operation could benefit potential smugglers, so we cannot make public this information.

Illegal Imports

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 237W, how many seizures of illegal imports of animal products in commercial consignments and personal baggage have been carried out under Regulation 8 of the Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (England) Regulations 2002 since 22 May 2002 .

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 December 2002
	There have been 2,087 seizures of products of animal origin reported to us by the enforcement agencies since 22 May 2002.
	Of these, 1,903 were in personal baggage, with a total weight of 16,598 kg, and 184 were in commercial consignments, with a total weight of 12,533 kg.

Landfill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of costs incurred by the Environment Agency in respect of landfill inspections were covered by charges levied, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Michael Meacher: 100 per cent. of landfill inspection costs are covered through charges.

Landfill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) number and (b) total size was of landfill sites in the United Kingdom broken down by region, in each year since 1995.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 11 December 2002
	The number of landfill sites in England and Wales is provided in the table. Data on the numbers of sites before 2000 are not readily available because the Environment Agency used to collect information on the number of licences rather than number of sites (a site could have several licences). Data are not available for Scotland or Northern Ireland.
	
		
			  2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 
		
		
			 Anglian 151 171 224 
			 Midlands 166 201 294 
			 North East 186 216 255 
			 North West 114 126 153 
			 South West 100 113 132 
			 Southern 78 101 123 
			 Thames 98 110 111 
			 Wales 68 81 91 
			 Grand total 961 1,119 1,383 
		
	
	The following tables provide a breakdown, by Government Office region, of landfill capacity in 1998–99. Landfill capacity covers two types—open gate (open to anyone) and restricted access (usually in-house landfills for the private use of a single company). Similar figures for 2000–01 will be available shortly on the Agency's website once data have been quality assured. These data are based on surveys carried out every two years. The first survey was not commissioned until 1998.
	
		
			 Region Inert/C&D Biodegradable Co-disposal Total 
		
		
			 East of England 9,412 26,527 65,391 101,330 
			 East Midlands 14,167 15,810 41,802 71,779 
			 London 3,949 15,303 358 19,610 
			 North East 200 15,958 23,015 39,173 
			 North West 12,712 6,255 57,860 76,827 
			 South East 18,706 63,539 33,184 115,429 
			 South West Wales(12) 8,221 19,839 21,319 49,379 
			 West Midlands 8,178 13,805 55,754 77,737 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 8,473 32,384 43,431 84,288 
			 National total 84,018 209,420 342,114 635,552 
		
	
	
		
			 Region Degradable Cap&Cover Inputs Life expectancy 
		
		
			 East of England 91,918 36,767.2 9509 4.8 
			 East Midlands 57,612 23,044.8 3,678 7.8 
			 London 15,661 6,264.4 1,234 6.3 
			 North East 38,973 15,589.2 2,206 8.8 
			 North West 64,115 25,646.0 6,437 5.0 
			 South East 96,723 38,689.2 7,306 6.6 
			 South West 41,158 16,463.2 3,669 5.6 
			 Wales(12) 35,926 14,370.4 2,643 6.8 
			 West Midlands 69,559 27,823.6 4,026 8.6 
			 Yorkshire & the Number 75,815 30,326.0 5,439 7.0 
			 National total 587,460 234,984 46,147 6.4 
		
	
	(12) Information split not available—total Wales landfill capacity 52,619,000 cubic metres

Landfill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) complaints, (b) court actions and (c) fines against landfill sites for problems related to (i) odours, (ii) water pollutions, (iii) air pollution and (iv) human health impact there were in each year since 1995, broken down by region.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 11 December 2002
	The data are not available in the form requested. Environment Agency reports have been collated centrally since April 2001 and so annual data are not available before this date. The following tables show the number of incidents broken down into impacts on water, land and air, and by region for the period April 2001 to March 2002. No specific record of impact on health is kept. It should be noted that each incident can be recorded as having an impact on more than one media. Therefore, adding records for impacts on single media will involve some double counting.
	
		
			 Region Cat1 (major) Cat2 (significant) Cat3 (minor) Cat4 (no impact) 
		
		
			  
			 Water impact   
			 Anglian 0 0 9 142 
			 Wales 0 0 15 239 
			 Midlands 0 2 8 119 
			 North East 0 2 9 169 
			 North West 0 0 19 1,105 
			 South West 0 0 8 77 
			 Southern 0 1 15 188 
			 Thames 0 1 7 73 
			 Total 0 6 90 2,112 
			  
			 Land impact 
			 Anglian 0 9 51 91 
			 Wales 0 3 15 236 
			 Midlands 0 1 26 102 
			 North East 0 13 50 117 
			 North West 0 2 36 1,086 
			 South West 0 1 24 60 
			 Southern 0 3 22 179 
			 Thames 0 3 23 55 
			 Total 0 35 247 1,926 
			  
			 Air impact 
			 Anglian 0 8 86 57 
			 Wales 0 7 209 38 
			 Midlands 0 2 91 36 
			 North East 0 15 89 76 
			 North West 0 196 868 60 
			 South West 0 2 54 29 
			 Southern 0 11 159 34 
			 Thames 0 3 51 27 
			 Total 0 244 1,607 357 
		
	
	In relation to court action and fines, data are available from 1999 from the National Enforcement Database.
	
		
			 Region Year Number of court actions Number of fines Total fines (#) 
		
		
			 Midlands 1999 5 12 16,250 
			  2000 2 8 88,500 
			 North East 2000 3 4 16,750 
			 North West 2000 1 3 35,000 
			  2001 1 1 3,000 
			  2002 1 3 17,000 
			 EA Wales 2000 2 3 23,000 
			  2001 3 4 14,500 
			 Anglian 2002 1 4 60,000 
			 South West 2002 1 2 2,500

Litter

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to extend the new biodegradable carrier bag incentives to include other plastics.

Michael Meacher: I am not aware of any incentive scheme aimed at biodegradable plastic carrier bags.

Farmgate and Retail

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average (a) farmgate and (b) retail price is of (i) one kilogram of (A) beef, (B) lamb, (C) pork, (D) chicken, (E) turkey, (F) bacon, (G) dessert apples, (H) potatoes, (I) tomatoes, (J) cauliflower and (K) peas, (ii) one pint of (A) milk, (B) cream, (C) yoghurt, (iii) one dozen eggs and (iv) one litre of (A) English wine and (B) brandy, distinguishing between (1) organic and (2) conventionally produced foodstuffs in each case.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 December 2002
	The farmgate and retail prices of conventionally grown foodstuffs, where available, are shown in table 1. Prices are not collected for English wine or brandy. Small quantities of cream and yogurt are sold at the farmgate direct to consumers at retail prices. The amount of processing taking place between farmgate and retail varies from commodity to commodity; an indication is given in the table. Farm gate prices include produce destined for highly processed food, which is normally lower quality and sells at a lower price.
	Limited information is available on prices of organically produced food. Indications of current farm gate prices are shown in table 2, where available, as provided by the Soil Association. There are no retail prices available.
	
		Table 1: conventionally grown produce -- #
		
			 Produce # per Farmgate value Retail value Indication of further processing 
		
		
			 Beef(13) Kg 1.70 3.84 Slaughtered, trimmed and cut 
			 Lamb(13) Kg 2.36 4.84 Slaughtered, trimmed and cut 
			 Pork(13) Kg 0.94 2.26 Slaughtered, trimmed and cut 
			 Chicken(14) Kg 0.68 2.24 Slaughtered 
			 Turkey(15) Kg 1.16 — — 
			 Bacon(13) Kg 0.96 3.54 Slaughtered, trimmed, cut and cured 
			 Apples, dessert(16) Kg 0.38 1.22 Packing and grading where off farm 
			 Potatoes(17) Kg 0.09 0.50 Packing and grading where off farm 
			 Tomatoes(16) Kg 0.73 1.43 Packing and grading where off farm 
			 Cauliflower(16) Kg 0.23 0.68 Packing and grading where off farm 
			 Peas(15) Kg 0.57 — — 
			 Milk(16) Pint 0.10 0.37 Pasteurised, bottled and delivered 
			 Eggs(14) Dozen 0.54 1.64 Packing and grading where off farm 
		
	
	(13) Farmgate and retail prices provided by the Meat and Livestock Commission, average of January to September 2002.
	(14) Retail prices provided by the ONS, average of Janaury to October 2002.
	(15) Retail prices not available from the ONS.
	(16) Retail prices from DEFRA's aggregate agricultural account, estimates for 2001–02 crop year.
	(17) Retail prices from the expenditure and food survey.
	
		Table 2: organically grown produce -- #
		
			 Produce # per Farmgate value 
		
		
			 Beef Kg 2.20–2.30 
			 Lamb Kg 2.50–2.60 
			 Pork Kg 1.90–2.10 
			 Chicken(18) Kg 2.22 
			 Turkey Kg — 
			 Bacon Kg — 
			 Apples, dessert Kg 0.90–1.10 
			 Potatoes Kg 0.25–0.30 
			 Tomatoes Kg — 
			 Cauliflower Kg (19)0.40–0.50 
			 Peas Kg 2.51 
			 Milk(20) Pint 0.18 
			 Cream Pint — 
			 Yoghurt Pint — 
			 Eggs Dozen 1.20–1.50 
		
	
	(18) Calculated from an average weight of 2.25 kg per chicken.
	(19) Head.
	(20) Price for milk sold as organic, does not include organic milk that is sold in the conventional market.

Nitrates

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what average level of nitrates there has been (a) within river courses and (b) in drinking water in the United Kingdom in each year since 1990, broken down by river course, type and region.

Elliot Morley: Responsibility for Scotland and Wales falls to the relevant devolved administrations.
	(a)Nitrate levels in river courses in England and Northern Ireland
	England: The Environment Agency monitors nitrate levels in rivers in England as part of the General Quality Assessment (GQA) network. Average annual nitrate levels are published each year and regional breakdowns are available from the Environment Agency. Detailed data can be obtained via www.environment-agency.gov.uk. The recent Environment Agency publication XRivers and Estuaries: a decade of improvement" contains details of the latest GQA nutrient monitoring data. This is available from the Environment Agency on 08459 333111 and from www.environment-agency.gov.uk/yourenv/eff/water/213902/river_qual/24904/?lang=_e&region.
	Northern Ireland: Since the early 1990s the Department for Environment's Agency the Environment and Heritage Service has monitored nitrate levels on a monthly basis at approximately 260 river sites throughout Northern Ireland. In the period 1990 to 2001, a total of 45,109 samples have been analysed for nitrate and 13 samples (0.03 per cent.) have failed the 50mg NO3/L standard laid down in the EC Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC).
	(b) Nitrate levels in drinking water in England and Northern Ireland
	The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 set a maximum standard for nitrate in drinking water at 50 milligrams per litre. This standard remains the same within the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000, which come into force on 25 December 2003.
	England: It is not possible to give a breakdown of nitrate in drinking water by river course and region. The percentage of tests which failed to meet the nitrate standard within England and Wales has fallen from 2.8 in 1990 to 0.08 in 2000. In 2001 there was a small rise in the percentage of tests failing to 0.38. This is linked to the occurrence of nitrate being found in groundwater supplies, as a result of pollution from long term agricultural runoff.
	The table shows the data in each of the years.
	
		
			 Year Percentage contravening the standard 
		
		
			 1990 2.8 
			 1991 2.8 
			 1992 1.9 
			 1993 0.9 
			 1994 0.8 
			 1995 0.4 
			 1996 0.1 
			 1997 0.04 
			 1998 0.05 
			 1999 0.06 
			 2000 0.08 
			 2001 0.38 
		
	
	Where there has been a contravention of a standard which is not trivial and is likely to recur, the Drinking Water inspectorate requires the water company concerned to give a legally binding undertaking to take remedial action to achieve compliance. In the case of nitrate the simplest option is to blend the high nitrate containing water with low nitrate containing water, if available. Otherwise more complex treatment is needed.
	Northern Ireland: Between 1 October 1994 (when Northern Ireland's Water Quality Regulations came into force) and the end of 2001 the nitrate standard in drinking water supplies was contravened on 16 occasions out of a total of 5,873 tests. The number and percentage of tests failing in each year is given in the following table.
	The contraventions in 1998 occurred in one water supply zone. Blending action was taken to achieve compliance thereafter.
	
		
			 Year Number of tests Percentage contravening the standard 
		
		
			 1995 1,216 0.00 
			 1996 851 0.12 
			 1997 809 0.12 
			 1998 746 1.88 
			 1999 777 0.00 
			 2000 732 0.00 
			 2001 742 0.00

Poultry Industry

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of third world imports on the UK poultry industry; and what recent meetings she has had with the National Farmers Union and representatives of the poultry industry to discuss this.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 9 December 2002
	In common with other EU countries, the UK imports substantial quantities of poultry meat from third countries, particularly as a source of raw material for further processing. UK poultry producers therefore face significant competition from third country supplies.
	I have had no recent meetings with the National Farmers Union on this issue. My most recent meeting with the poultry industry was on 3 December 2002, when I attended the annual awards ceremony of the Breeders and Hatcheries Sector Group of the British Poultry Council. Third country imports was one of the issues referred to at that event.

Organic Oilseed Rape

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the separation distances are between GM and non-GM or organic oilseed rape.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 10 December 2002
	Separation distances have been applied to the Farm Scale Evaluation GM crop trials under the terms of a code of practice drawn up by the farming and industry body SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops). The following distances have applied in respect of oilseed rape:
	
		Metres 
		
			  Separation distance in SCIMAC code where neighbouring oilseed rape crop is:  
			  Conventionally grown Organic 
		
		
			 Oilseed rape variety: conventional varieties and restored hybrids 50 200 
			 Varietal associations and partially restored hybrids 100 200

Parrett Catchment Project

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what power the Chairman of the Parrett catchment project has to assist in setting the budget of the Environment Agency.

Elliot Morley: The Parrett catchment project is an independent body. It is a local stakeholder group aiming to help the Environment Agency and others to direct investment in appropriate flood management and other measures to benefit the Parrett catchment area. This project has no part in setting budgets of the Environment Agency. Budgets for Environment Agency flood defence programmes are agreed by statutory Flood Defence Committees, including the Local Flood Defence Committee, which Mr. Humphrey Temperley also chairs. This is a separate role to his position as Chair of the Parrett catchment project.

Parrett Catchment Project

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidelines she follows on the reappointment of the Chairman of the Parrett catchment project when his term is ended.

Elliot Morley: The Parrett catchment project is an independent body, as advised in my reply to the hon. Member's previous questions. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no role in the appointment or reappointment of the Chairman of this project.

Pesticides

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the (a) volume by weight and (b) total value of the export from the United Kingdom of pesticides produced in the United Kingdom, broken down by those which are (i) legal and (ii) illegal to use within the United Kingdom in each year since 1990.

Elliot Morley: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not hold any details in respect of the export of pesticides from Great Britain as such information is not required for the regulation of pesticides in this country.

Pesticides

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations control United Kingdom companies' (a) production and (b) export of pesticides which would be classified as illegal to use within the European Union; what recent changes have taken place and are planned to these regulations; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The United Kingdom's pesticide legislation does not extend to the manufacture of pesticides or to those pesticides intended solely for exportation from the United Kingdom. The fact that a pesticide may not be approved in this country does not, in itself, prevent companies from selling such products in another country. The product would, of course, have to comply with the other country's own legislation.
	The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure (PIC) for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, among other things, gives importing countries the choice to decide which hazardous chemicals they receive and exclude. At present the Convention covers 22 'banned' pesticides.
	European Community Regulation 2455/92 concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals provides for export notification procedures for other restricted substances and pesticides. Negotiations on a replacement for this regulation are in the final stages. I welcome these proposals which, as well as increasing the number of chemicals covered by the regulation, will also enable the European Community to approve the Rotterdam Convention and all member states to legally ratify it.

Recycling

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason she estimates the percentage of glass recycled decreased last year.

Michael Meacher: Most of the glass recovered for recycling is in packaging. The tonnages of glass packaging waste recycled in the UK in the last few years show an upward trend, rather than a decrease. The figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998 503,800 
			 1999 582,577 
			 2000 715,037 
			 2001 735,594

Recycling

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many (a) mobile phones and (b) printer cartridges were (i) recycled, (ii) reused overseas and (iii) disposed of within the UK waste stream in each year since 1990;
	(2)  what research has been conducted (a) by and (b) for her Department relating to the recycling and reuse of (i) mobile phones and (ii) printer cartridges.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 11 December 2002
	There are no accurate figures on the number of mobile phones discarded in the UK, although it is estimated that around 15 million are replaced each year. An independent consumer survey carried out as part of a pilot study in 1997 for 'Mobile Take Back UK' shows that in the UK very few phones are actually discarded. The majority of people keep old phones, give them to relatives, or store them for emergency use. However, a number of schemes are now collecting mobile phones for refurbishment and recycling. A certain number of refurbished phones are also sold to eastern Europe, Asia and Africa where there is a strong second hand market.
	Approximately 40 million printer cartridges are sold annually. Remanufactured supplier cartridges account for between 15–20 per cent. of the sector.
	No research has been done to date either by or for the Department on the recycling and reuse of mobile phones and printer cartridges.

Recycling

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to increase funding for local authority recycling schemes.

Michael Meacher: The 2002 Spending Review increased the local authority Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) spending block, which includes waste management. EPCS spending will increase by #671 million by 2005–06.
	Over the same period, Defra has been allocated #355 million of future PFI credits for waste projects. This is around 60 per cent. more than the provision in SR2000. We will use these funds to help local authorities increase their recycling levels.
	The 112 schemes that were approved in the first round of the ring-fenced National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund of #140 million for local authority recycling are now receiving funding and being put into action. A further 142 schemes have now been successful in the second round of bidding with funding amounting to 76.3 million next year.
	In addition to these funds, following the publication of the report on waste by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, a ministerial group has been formed to take forward their recommendations, specifically including those relating to funding for waste.

Sewage

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the sites in the United Kingdom where untreated sewage is disposed of at sea from (a) short outfall pipes, (b) long outfall pipes and (c) shipping; what assessment of water quality has been made in each case; and what plans there are to strengthen treatment.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 December 2002
	The question as it relates to Scotland and Wales is a matter for the devolved Administrations. For England and Northern Ireland the position is as follows.
	Sewage discharges from land to coastal waters
	Through our implementation of the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) significant improvements have and are being made to raise standards of sewage treatment. For example, as at 31 October 2002, 99 per cent. of sewage discharges (539 of 544) from treatment works serving over 15,000 people in England received primary and secondary treatment.
	The following table sets out the untreated discharges from communities with over 15,000 inhabitants in England and Northern Ireland, the length of their outfalls, an assessment of water quality (against the mandatory and guideline standards of the Bathing Waters Directive), and expected date for provision of primary and secondary treatment. These dates are dependent on the resolution of planning and/or funding issues.
	
		
			 Discharge name Outfall length Water quality situation Treatment expected (primary and secondary) 
		
		
			 Bangor (NI) Short Regular passes of mandatory standard December 2008 
			 Brighton (E) Long Regular passes of mandatory and guidelines standards June 2007 
			 Donaghadee (Nl) Short No identified impact on receiving waters December 2008 
			 Hastings and Bexhill (E) Long Regular passes of mandatory and guidelines standards March 2003 
			 Larne (Sandy Bay) (Nl) Short Regular passes of mandatory standard—although failed in 2002 September 2005 
			 Margate and Broadstairs (E) Long Regular passes of mandatory and guidelines standards March 2006 
			 Portrush (Nl) Short Regular passes of mandatory standard December 2008 
			 Torquay (E) Short Regular passes of mandatory and guidelines standards Early 2004 
		
	
	As required by the directive we expected, by 31 December 2005, to provide secondary treatment for two discharges in Northern Ireland from communities with over 10,000 inhabitants, and appropriate treatment for 19 discharges below this threshold.
	In England it is Government policy that all coastal discharges from communities with more that 2,000 inhabitants receive a minimum of secondary treatment. Consequently 20 discharges above this threshold are to receive this by 31 December 2005, and a further 22 below this threshold are to receive appropriate treatment.
	Sewage discharges from shipping
	The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) has an Annex on Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships. Although the UK ratified this Annex in 1995, it was not until 27 September 2002 that the entry into force requirements were met at the International Maritime Organisation. The UK has 12 months from that date to implement legislation bringing it into force.
	The legislation will apply to new ships of 400 gross tonnage and above; new ships of less than 400 tonnage which are certified to carry more than 15 persons; existing ships of 400 gross tonnage and above, five years after the date of entry into force of the Annex and existing ships of less than 400 gross tonnage which are certified to carry more than 15 persons, five years after the date of entry into force of the Annex.
	Under the regulations, sewage can be discharged from ships using a treatment plant anywhere. Ships using a comminuting and disinfecting system can only discharge sewage more than three nautical miles from land. Sewage from a holding tank can only be discharged 12 nautical miles from land, at a moderate rate and when the ship is travelling at a speed of four knots or over. States can opt for less stringent discharge requirements in waters under their jurisdiction.

Snowfall

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the historical data which she collates on snowfall; and what the predicted future annual number of days when there is snowfall are for (a) London and (b) Edinburgh in (i) 2010, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2030 and (iv) 2050.

Michael Meacher: Defra does not collate historical data on snowfall. However, the Met Office, which is an agency of the Ministry of Defence, records daily snowfall frequency and amount at 80 stations in the UK. Most of these records go back to 1971. In April this year, the Department published new climate change scenarios for the UK. These scenarios include information on total winter snowfall amounts, but not number of snowfall days. The scenarios show that snowfall in the London and Edinburgh areas could be reduced by between 55 and 90 per cent. by the 2080s (compared to the 1961–90 baseline), depending on the degree of future climate change. Scaling these figures back to the years in question gives the following estimates of the reduction in snowfall amount at both locations, depending on whether there is a low or high degree of climate change:
	
		
			 Year Percentage reduction 
		
		
			 2010 17–30 
			 2020 22–38 
			 2030 27–47 
			 2050 37–65 
		
	
	These figures represent general trends, not predictions of the amount of snowfall in specific years, which will be greatly influenced by natural year-to-year variability, particularly in the first few decades of the century. Further information is available in the full report in the Libraries of both Houses.

Snowfall

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the predicted changes in the frequency of the number of days when there is snowfall in the United Kingdom under future scenarios of climate change, including regional variations.

Michael Meacher: In April this year, the Department published new XClimate Change Scenarios for the UK". The scenarios do not contain an analysis of the changes in the number of snowfall days, but show that climate change will cause the amount of snowfall to decline significantly throughout the UK in the future. By the 2080s, large areas of the UK are likely to experience quite long sequences of snowless winters. Coastal areas and the English lowlands are likely to show the largest percentage reductions (up to 90 per cent. or more by the 2080s compared to 1961–90 baseline), while the Scottish Highlands and parts of Northern Ireland may experience smaller percentage reductions (50 per cent. or less).
	Further information is available in the full report in the Libraries of both Houses.

Timber Procurement

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the joint guidance issued by DEFRA and Her Majesty's Treasury, through the Office of Government Commerce, on Environmental Issues in Purchasing has been updated to take account of Government requirements that all timber purchased by Departments comes from legal and sustainable sources; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Meacher: OGC and Defra have agreed to revise their joint note on XEnvironmental issues in procurement" to reflect the Commission's interpretative communications on environmental and social issues and other developments such as the new EC procurement directive. It will also refer to new initiatives such as the Government's committed aim to procure its timber and timber products from legal and sustainably managed sources. Advice on the timber procurement strategy is currently given in Section 3 of the Green Guide for Buyers which, with other advice, is on the XSustainable Development in Government" website. URL: development.gov.uk/sdig/improving/contextf.htm.
	This will also be updated. My officials have also provided Departments with a model specification clause for inclusion in contracts for timber procurement.

Turkey Producers

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has of the UK production of turkeys in the last five years.

Elliot Morley: UK turkey meat production over the last five years is as follows.
	
		
			  Tonnes 
		
		
			 1997 293,000  
			 1998 294,000  
			 1999 267,000  
			 2000 255,000  
			 2001 254,000

Turkey Producers

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with turkey producers trade associations about the likely UK turkey production for the next 12 months.

Elliot Morley: I have had no discussions with turkey producers on this issue.

Turkey Producers

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which recent EU directives affect domestic turkey production.

Elliot Morley: The principal regulation covering EU turkey production is Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2777/75 (as amended) which establishes the common organisation of the poultry meat market. Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1906/90 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1538/91 (both as amended) implement harmonised standards for trade and quality.
	Turkey producers also have to meet the requirements of relevant horizontal legislation on a number of other issues including welfare, slaughter and feed.

Turkey Producers

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement about the availability of free-range, domestic and organically produced turkeys for Christmas 2002.

Elliot Morley: I expect there to be adequate supplies of turkey to meet consumer demand. The Christmas market is important to the turkey industry and accounts for nearly 40 per cent. of the 36 million turkeys produced each year. Most of the turkeys in the UK are reared indoors. Around 1.5 million turkeys are reared for Christmas as traditional farm fresh. Only 1 per cent. of the UK's annual turkey production is either free-range or organically produced.

Waste

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the (a) environmental and (b) financial implications of (i) waste incineration, (ii) landfill dumping and (iii) recycling of household waste.

Michael Meacher: The waste hierarchy set out in 'Waste Strategy 2000' (from reduction, through re-use, recycling, composting, and energy recovery to disposal to landfill) sets out the broad relative environmental implications of the different approaches to waste.
	In deciding which form of treatment or disposal to adopt in each case, decision makers need to take account of what is the Best Practicable Environmental Option. The costs and environmental impact of both the facility and the associated transport of waste can vary greatly in each case.
	However, the general position on the costs of each option was taken into account by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit in the recent report on waste. In response to that, the Government have already announced that they will consult on increasing the landfill tax to #35 per tonne for active wastes.
	The Pre-Budget Report 2002 announced the Government's intention to commission a review of the environmental and health effects of all waste management and disposal options, including incineration. The case for using economic instruments for incineration will be considered in light of this work and in consultation with other stakeholders.

Water Quality

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment has been conducted by (a) her Department and (b) the Environment Agency of the risk to river water quality from discharges from (i) abandoned mine workings, (ii) landfill sites, (iii) radioactive waste storage sites and (iv) animal burial mounds; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: (i) The Environment Agency and the Department hold a database of discharges from abandoned mines, with those presenting the greatest risk to the environment on an agreed Xpriority listing".
	(ii) A full assessment of pollution risks and the preventative measures needed to protect surface waters is made when waste management licence applications are considered under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) (1990) Pt II, and under the Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) Act (2000). The agency has recently begun a programme of work under the EU Landfill Directive to review all operating landfill sites.
	(iii) The agency has not carried out any assessments of risks to river quality from sites at which radioactive waste is stored. However, the agency undertakes an extensive programme of monitoring for radioactivity in the environment and would carry out a specific assessment of a particular site if this monitoring, or any other information, indicated cause for concern. For example, the principal site for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste is the Drigg site in Cumbria. The agency recently required BNFL to submit radiological assessments for the site, which indicated that the levels of risks generally meet current regulatory requirements and that the site can be operated safely for the foreseeable future. The agency is carrying out an independent appraisal of the BNFL assessment.
	(iv) The agency recently undertook a specific water quality monitoring programme at selected farm-burial sites which has now been handed over to DEFRA. DEFRA also undertakes water quality monitoring of surface and groundwater at all mass burial sites. The agency continues to audit and monitor water quality at all its routine monitoring points.

Water Quality

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the (a) European Directives and (b) other regulations under which pollution to rivers from discharges from (i) abandoned mine workings, (ii) landfill sites, (iii) radioactive waste storage sites and (iv) animal burial mounds are covered.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency and the Department hold a database of discharges regulation of discharges to controlled waters is exercised through the following measures:
	(i) From abandoned mine workings, The Mines (Notice of Abandonment) Regulations 1998 under the Water Resources Act 1991, as amended by the Environment Act 1995.
	(ii) From landfill sites, Waste Framework Directive 1975 (75/442/EEC), as amended by 1991 (91/156/EEC) and Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the Landfill of Waste, Implemented in England and Wales by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002 No. 1559).
	(iii) There are no directives or regulations relating specifically to discharges to rivers from radioactive waste storage sites, but Directive 96/29/Euratom and the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 are relevant to the control of radioactive discharges generally.
	(iv) Animal carcass disposal is covered by Council Directives 90/667/EEC (Animal Waste Directive) and 80/68/EEC (Groundwater Directive), the Animal By-Products Order (ABPO) (1999) and the Groundwater Regulations (1998).

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bali Bombing

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the relatives of the Bali bomb victims, who went to Bali in the aftermath of the bombing, were assisted by his Department with the costs of (a) hotels and (b) telephone calls to the United Kingdom; and what assistance was provided towards funeral costs.

Jack Straw: On 15 October, in the aftermath of the Bali bomb , I announced a package of measures to help the victims of the attack and their families. This included making arrangements to reimburse the costs of bringing home the bodies of those who died, of the medical evacuation of the injured and of paying the travel and certain accommodation costs of up to two relatives of the dead and injured who wished to travel to the region. 12 families have used the package to travel to Bali.
	We did not meet the costs of telephone calls, but Vodaphone UK provided each family with two mobile phones, with one month's unlimited calls free of charge.
	We paid the repatriation costs for all British victims of the Bali bomb and for ensuring the deceased arrived at their local undertakers. The package did not cover the cost of funeral expenses.

Bali Bombing

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made by his Department in setting up a Bali appeal fund; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: We have no plans to set up a Bali appeal fund. It is open to the families and relatives of the victims of Bali to do this if they wish. Some families have already set up private trusts in the name of the family member they lost.

Emergency Response Team

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what personnel and equipment his Department's Emergency Response Team has.

Jack Straw: Personnel, both in the UK and overseas, have volunteered to join the Rapid Deployment Teams, each of which are likely to comprise eight staff. They have a range of skills including consular, media, management, organisational and communications skills. The teams are being equipped with mobile telephones, satellite telephones, laptop computers, printers, fax machines, digital cameras, hand-held radios, office stationery and a first-aid kit.

IT Systems

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the overspend was on its new IT system; and what fee was paid to consultants on the new IT systems.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 25 November
	The FCO's major IT system is Firecrest, developed and delivered by FCO Services since 1997, providing a modern office-wide system to over 10,000 staff in the UK and overseas. The initial programme was expanded over time, and revised budgets approved in step. The total capital costs to date are #106 million compared with initial estimates totalling #118 million. Annual running costs are now around #19 million. The confidential version of this should be completed on budget by mid-2003.
	Using this infrastructure, two programmes, Prism and Focus, are being developed. The aim of Prism is to provide an integrated world-wide financial and management accounting and human resources system. The planned expenditure for the programme from inception to the expiry of the contract in early 2009 was #80 million (including a #53 million contract with CGEY). This estimate has now risen to #90 million. Expenditure so far has been #28.3 million, in line with the planned budget. Focus is a programme designed to provide the FCO with a new global registry and intranet, allowing more efficient management, sifting, storage and retrieval of information. A contract for #10.5 million was awarded to Fujitsu in January 2002, as part of an initial budgeted cost of 23 million over six years. This estimate has now risen to #42 million because of the increased scope of the project. Given the scale of this increase and other relevant factors the Secretary of State is conducting an urgent review of the whole future of this programme. A further announcement will be made as soon as possible.

Mombasa Bombing

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department's Emergency Response Team was put on alert immediately following the Mombasa bombing.

Jack Straw: Yes. A Rapid Deployment Team was put on standby to travel to Kenya as soon as news broke about the Mombasa bombing. It was stood down once it became clear that no British nationals were involved in the incident.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Learning

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which organisations the Government have consulted on the review of the funding for adult learning; and what further consultation is planned.

Ivan Lewis: The Government have already consulted a wide range of external organisations following the announcement of the review of funding of adult learning last July. The first stage of this has included a series of regional Skill Summits. The consultations so far has included representatives from colleges, employers, training providers, voluntary organisations, educational representative bodies, and learners themselves.
	The Government welcome the interest that the review has generated and the process of consultation will continue until the review is concluded in the summer of next year.

Classroom Assistants

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence he has assessed on the use of classroom assistants to mind classes in place of teachers.

David Miliband: On 22 October we published the XDeveloping the role of school support staff" consultation document in which we set out our plans for enhancing the role played by support staff in support of teachers and pupils, as opposed to replacing teachers with support staff. The paper drew on case study material of how schools are already making more effective use of different kinds of support staff and consideration of research carried out by a range of organisations, including Ofsted. The paper proposes for the first time to regulate the involvement of support staff in teaching and learning, based on the principle that qualified teachers must always have responsibility for ensuring high standards within a system of supervision and support staff must be suitably trained for the activities they undertake. The way in which the proposals are taken forward will depend on the outcomes of the consultation. Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Library of the House.

Connexions Service

Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the timetable is for the National Audit Office Review of the establishment of the Connexions Service arising out of the Learning and Skills Act 2000.

Ivan Lewis: It is a matter for the Comptroller and Auditor General to decide which subjects to review and whether or not to report to Parliament on them. As the proposed study on the Connexions Service is still at the feasibility stage, and the Comptroller and Auditor General has not yet approved a full-scale study, it would be inappropriate at this stage to commit him to a definitive timetable.
	In general, parliamentary questions about the work of the National Audit Office should be directed to the right hon. Alan Williams, Chair of the Public Accounts Commission.

Supply Teachers

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence he has assessed on the change in the number of supply teachers hours worked in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools over the last two years for which figures are available.

David Miliband: The total number of occasional teachers with contracts of less than one month, working for the whole day of the survey date, fell from 19,600 in January 2001 to 17,500 in January 2002. In the nursery and primary phase, the number of occasional teachers went down by 1,900 to 10,100 in January 2002, and in the secondary sector, by 200 to 6,400. There were also 1,000 occasionals in special schools and providing education outside of school in 2002 (1,100 in 2001). Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Information on the number of hours worked is not collected centrally.

Truancy (West Sussex)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children played truant from schools in West Sussex each day in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what plans he has to tackle this.

Ivan Lewis: The Department does not hold absence data for any particular day, only for the total period from the start of the academic year to the end of the spring term (i.e. September to May) each academic year. The number of pupils absent for at least one half day due to unauthorised absence in West Sussex is as follows:
	
		
			 Academic year(21) Number of pupils absent for at least one half day Number of day pupil of compulsory school age 
		
		
			
			 1997–98 9,807 89,626 
			 1998–99 10,877 91,568 
			 1999–2000 10,743 93,171 
			 2000–01 13,438 94,177 
			 2001–02 12,493 94,885 
		
	
	(21) September to May
	Source:
	Pupil Absence Survey
	Truancy is a multi-faceted and long-term problem which requires a range of responses. We have targeted areas that have experienced high levels of truancy with intensive support and there is emerging evidence that initiatives are beginning to have an impact.
	Recently initiatives include: a Fast-Track to Prosecution pathfinder starting in January 2003 across a number of LEAs will focus on multi-agency early intervention to address truancy; and a national exercise of intensive truancy sweeps taking place this month which will increase the focus on school attendance as a community issue. This is backed up by a sustained publicity campaign raising the profile of school non-attendance.
	Other current activities include: requiring LEAs and schools to set targets for improvement through Education Development Plans; providing funding for electronic registration systems for 525 schools with high rates of unauthorised absence; and conducting research into the causes of absence from school in order to fully understand the issues.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall, North of 29 October 2002, regarding a constituent.

Margaret Hodge: I replied today to the hon. Member's letter of 29 October on 5 December 2002.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

River Nile

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her officials have had with representatives of (a) British water companies and (b) Water UK on water retention around the Nile basin.

Clare Short: DFID have not held discussions with UK companies specifically on the Nile Basin. However, DFID is also supporting a range of initiatives to encourage private sector involvement to improve access to water and sanitation, while ensuring that services are provided at an affordable price to the poor.

River Nile

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the governments of those countries through which the River Nile flows on effecting a common policy towards water use.

Clare Short: DFID has agreed to support the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), which encompasses the 10 riparian countries in a programme of dialogue and benefit sharing for the protection and development of the waters of the Nile. DFID has joined World bank facilitated discussions with riparian countries and a number of bilateral donors. DFID has pledged #3.3 million in support of NBI.

St. Helena

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her timetable is for airport development on St. Helena; what the prospects are for private sector co-funding; and whether decisions will have been made by 1 July 2003.

Clare Short: The St. Helena Government, with our assistance, intends to invite proposals for private sector involvement. The future timetable should become clearer early next year.

TREASURY

Terrorism (Insurance)

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his policy in respect of insurance against acts of terrorism.

Dawn Primarolo: We have looked carefully at issues for the insurance market following the appalling attacks of 11 September 2001. Following a review the Pool Re scheme is being extended to enable insurers to offer terrorism insurance for commercial property damage and business interruption against a wider range of risks.

Community Amateur Sports Clubs

Andy Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many sports clubs have successfully applied for tax exemptions for Community Amateur Sports Clubs.

John Healey: As at 29 November 2002,476 clubs had applied for registration with the Inland Revenue as community amateur sports clubs.
	Of those, 164 had so far been registered. A list of registered clubs is published on the Inland Revenue website, and is updated on a monthly basis.

Poverty

Tom Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the role of the Treasury in pressing for co-ordinated international action to tackle world poverty.

John Healey: In discussions with fellow finance ministers, the IMF and the World Bank, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is championing a new International Finance Facility (IFF) to finance the investment needed to tackle world poverty. The EU and US have pledged $50 billion that is needed to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
	In addition, the Treasury continues to work with DfiD and No. 10 to press our international partners to follow UK's lead on:
	Aid effectiveness
	Additional debt relief
	G8 Africa action plan
	Improving contribution of aid to improvements in health and education

Voluntary Sector

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he is taking to support voluntary sector organisations.

John Healey: The Government are committed to supporting the work of voluntary and community organisations. Following the cross cutting review of the role of the voluntary and community sector in service delivery, the Spending Review 2002 settlement for the Active Community Unit is #188 million and an additional #125 million has been allocated for futurebuilders. Following recent Budget changes, including the Budget 2000 Getting Britain Giving tax package, the value of tax incentives for charities are now worth around #2 billion a year. The Strategy Unit is consulting on improving the legal and regulatory framework for the sector, and the Chancellor and Home Secretary recently published a discussion document setting out how the Government intend to continue to promote a culture of giving and volunteering.

New Towns

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury was consulted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister before the Office's response to the Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee's Report, the New Towns: Their Problems and Future.

Paul Boateng: The response was cleared collectively across Government in the normal way.

Mapeley Steps Contactor Ltd.

Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the director of Mapeley Steps Contactor Ltd. to discuss the maintenance of accommodation occupied by Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise are responsible for the accommodation they occupy under the contract with Mapeley for serviced accommodation. The Chancellor has, therefore, not met the directors to discuss these matters.

Euro

Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the #/euro exchange rate.

Ruth Kelly: The Government do not comment on day-to-day movements in the exchange rate.

Competitiveness

Hugo Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he received in advance of the pre-Budget report on Government policy and UK competitiveness; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The Chancellor meets regularly with representatives of industry to discuss a wide range of issues, including the pre-Budget report.
	PBR 2002 continues the Government's programme of microeconomic reform, targeting historic weakness in the key drivers of productivity performance:
	Strengthening the competition regime through the Enterprise Act
	Promoting enterprise by modernising the UK's business tax regime, and promoting an entrepreneurial culture
	Supporting science and innovation through the Government's comprehensive science strategy, and announcing two complementary reviews into business innovation and university-business links
	Improving UK skills through measures to support the expansion and improvement of the Modern Apprenticeship scheme, and by expanding the employer training pilots to improve work force skills
	Promoting investment by reforming the planning system.
	21.

Competitiveness

Nick Palmer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his discussions within the EU on reforms to the Stability and Growth Pact.

Ruth Kelly: I refer my hon. Friend to the comments made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at Treasury oral questions on 7 November 2002, Official Report, columns 413–16.

Competitiveness

Julian Brazier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he received in advance of the pre-Budget report from members of the manufacturing industry regarding competitiveness.

John Healey: The Chancellor meets regularly with representatives of manufacturing industry to discuss a wide range of issues, including the pre-Budget report.
	The pre-Budget report confirms the Government's agenda to promote productivity, growth and employment. The Government are demonstrating their support for manufacturers by:
	Making enhanced investment allowances for small and medium sized firms permanent.
	Providing R&D tax credits to all companies, which will overwhelmingly benefit manufacturers, who undertake most of the UK's business R&D.
	Creating venture capital funds in every English region providing #270 million (including up to #8 million of Government funding) for investment in small firms with high growth potential.
	Establishing the Small Business Service to ensure that the interests and concerns of small firms are properly reflected in Government policy and programmes.
	Strengthening the Regional Development Agencies (RDA), whose key role is promoting business efficiency, investment and competitiveness.
	Establishing regional centres of manufacturing excellence in every region of England and Wales.

Debt

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the HIPC debt relief initiative in delivering a sustainable exit from debt for all eligible countries.

John Healey: The UK Government have been at the forefront of the international debate on debt relief issues, and continues to press for the rapid and full implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
	The Treasury closely monitors Highly Indebted Poor Countries' throughout the process of the HIPC initiative and follows their progress with International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes.
	Indeed, when the spring 2002 meetings of the IMF and the World bank highlighted the threat to debt sustainability from the global economic slowdown and weaker commodity prices, the UK argued strongly that we should be prepared to be proactive and flexible in providing additional debt relief at Completion Point—the stage at which countries have their debts irrevocably cancelled to ensure a robust exit from unsustainable debt.
	In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session in May, the Chancellor called for richer countries to provide a further US $1 billion to the HIPC initiative to finance more realistic and generous debt relief. And at the recent IMF/World bank meetings in Washington, the international community agreed the need for up to $1 billion of further debt relief for Highly Indebted Poor Countries. So I am pleased to confirm that the UK, joined by 16 other donors, have so far made firm commitments totalling $850 million to the HIPC Trust Fund. And EU member states have called on the Commission to make a contribution through the European Development Fund. This will benefit 26 Highly Indebted Poor Countries.
	Debt sustainability over the longer term is an issue that goes beyond the financing of the initiative though. At their summit meeting in Kananaskis in June 2002, G7 leaders asked the IMF and the World bank to prepare a comprehensive review of debt sustainability, and going forward asked them to ensure that forecasts of debt sustainability are made on the basis of prudent and cautious assumptions about growth and exports.
	We are determined that the HIPC initiative should provide a robust exit from unsustainable debt. That is why we have been forcing the debate on the use of voluntary additional bilateral debt relief. Although under HIPC rules creditors are typically only required to provide 90 per cent. relief on bilateral debts, many bilateral creditors (including the G7 countries) provide additional relief to 100 per cent. on a voluntary basis.
	This extra relief is currently being included in the calculations of any additional debt relief provided at Completion Point to ensure countries exit the HIPC initiative with a debt to exports ratio of 150 per cent. This means that currently G7 countries are effectively subsidising other creditors. The UK has proposed that voluntary additional debt relief should be excluded from calculations, and this would clearly define the burden sharing among all creditors, both bilateral and multilateral, in support of the HIPC initiative.
	Moreover it would mean that this additional voluntary debt relief would be truly additional, and allow countries to exit the process in a more favourable position than the agreed sustainability threshold. We are currently working to build international support for this policy.

Child Poverty

Kali Mountford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made to relieve child poverty since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have a PSA target to reduce by a quarter the number of children in low-income households by a quarter by 2004–05, as a contribution towards the broader target of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020. Low-income households are defined as those with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median income. Progress will be reported against the 1998–99 baseline figures of 3.1 children in low-income households before housing costs, and 4.2 million after housing costs.
	By 2000–01 the number of children in low-income households had fallen by 300,000 after housing costs and by 400,000 before housing costs. This means that we are a third of the way to reaching the 2004 PSA target in a third of the time.
	Low income is of course central to poverty. But poverty is a complex, multi-dimensional issue, affecting many other aspects of children's lives, including health, housing, the quality of their environment and opportunities to learn. In April 2002 the Government launched a consultation exercise to decide the best way to measure poverty in the long-term, to help target policies and enable the Government to be held to account over their long-term targets. Results will be published by spring 2003.

Equitable Life

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on measures he has taken to end the uncertainty facing policyholders of Equitable Life.

Ruth Kelly: The future of Equitable Life is a matter for the Board of the Society and its members. Equitable Life is regulated by the Financial Services Authority which has been working to ensure that clear and appropriate information is made available to policyholders by the Society and that the management of the Society comply with regulatory requirements.
	The Government announced in August last year that an independent inquiry under Lord Penrose would investigate and report on the events surrounding Equitable Life.

Economic Stability

John MacDougall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the impact of increases in public expenditure on the stability of the economy, with special reference to (a) employment and (b) inward investment.

Ruth Kelly: Sound management of the public finances has meant that, during a time of global economic weakness and uncertainty, fiscal policy has supported monetary policy and smoothed the economic cycle by allowing the automatic stabilisers to operate in full.
	As Government spending plans have come on stream, the public sector has contributed strongly to employment and the resilience of the labour market. Increases in the number of work force jobs in public administration, education and health sectors have averaged about 30,000 a quarter over the past year.
	The platform of economic stability delivered by the Government's macroeconomic framework has encouraged inward investment. The UK was ranked second in the world at attracting inward investment in 2001.

Welfare to Work

Clive Soley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the connection between his economic policy and welfare to work.

John Healey: Macroeconomic stability is a pre-requisite for delivering the Government's aim of employment opportunity for all. The Government's macroeconomic policy, based on low inflation and sound public finances, has successfully maintained stability and growth.
	Against this background of stability, the Government have also introduced microeconomic reforms to improve the functioning of the labour market and ensure that employment opportunity is extended to all individuals in all parts of Britain. These include Welfare to Work policies that help the unemployed achieve a successful return to work, and extend help and support to areas and groups suffering from the greatest employment disadvantage.
	This strategy has helped to deliver a dynamic and flexible labour market, with employment at record highs and both International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment and claimant unemployment close to their lowest levels since the 1970s. Since 1997, claimant unemployment in Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush has fallen from 7 per cent. to 3.9 per cent.

Infrastructure

Nigel Beard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to make firm financial commitment to major transport infrastructure projects once they have been started.

Paul Boateng: Under the 10-year plan we have made a significant commitment to planning and procurement of projects that reach an appropriate stage, some of which were announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport in the House on Tuesday.
	Where projects require public subsidy, they will be assessed and our commitment will be given to those where value for money and affordability are demonstrated throughout the life of the project.
	For PFI/PPP projects our commitment over the life of the project is contractual and tied to delivery.

Investment

Paul Tyler: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in investment by business in 2002.

John Healey: Business investment in 2002 has shown further faltering across the world's major economies, reflecting weaker global prospects and heightened uncertainty. A full assessment is given in Annex A of the pre-Budget Report (Cm 5664).

Manufacturing Industry

Andy Burnham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further steps he is taking to help manufacturing industry in deprived areas.

John Healey: The Chancellor announced in the Pre-Budget Report the creation of 2,000 Enterprise Areas, which form the focus for Government support to businesses in disadvantaged areas. This is reflected in a number of new measures, which will benefit manufacturers in these areas. In particular:
	An exemption from stamp due for all commercial property transactions, subject to state aids approval.
	A special package of support from the Inland Revenue and a commitment from HM Customs and Excise to examine how their support services for businesses can be enhanced and targeted more effectively in disadvantaged areas.
	New grants from the Business Incubation Fund with higher levels of funding in disadvantaged areas.
	Legislation for Business Planning Zones (BPZs), which will provide a more flexible planning regime for businesses in designated areas of England.
	32.

Manufacturing Industry

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of trends in manufacturing output in the south east since January 2001.

John Healey: Manufacturing output in the UK has slowed since January 2001, clearly influenced by the synchronised global economic slowdown, the collapse in the demand for ICT related goods and the heightened uncertainty over the outlook for the world economy. The Office for National Statistics does not collect regional data on manufacturing output. However, both the Confederation of British Industry and the British Chamber of Commerce surveys for the third quarter of 2002 reported that businesses expect output to increase over the coming months, with the latter reporting the south east region with the highest balance of manufacturers expecting turnover to increase.

Defence Contingency Fund

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the additional contingency fund set aside in his pre-Budget statement for defence purposes.

Paul Boateng: The #1 billion special reserve is available to cover costs of military and overseas operations this year to ensure the UK can continue to play a leading role in the global war against terror.
	No decisions have been taken about any future UK military contribution in the Middle East, although prudent contingency planning is taking place. Indeed no UK contribution will be needed if Saddam complies with UNSCR 1441.
	#1 billion represents a prudent allocation at this time but makes no assumption about the nature of any UK contribution to international efforts in Iraq or elsewhere.

Africa (Poverty)

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on what action he is taking to combat poverty in Africa.

John Healey: This year the UK has given special attention to Africa. At the G8 summit in June, members endorsed a new partnership for Africa's development. We share with African leaders the vision that a new outlook is needed and will require a strong commitment to reform and sustained political leadership by Africa itself. In turn, developed countries must share the benefits of globalisation, ensuring Africa can benefit from the opportunities it provides. The UK is taking forward actions in all the areas covered by the G8 Africa action plan as part of our ongoing international development efforts. And the 2002 Spending Review established, for the first time, a #1 billion annual bilateral programme for Africa by 2005–06.

National Insurance

Peter Pike: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what figures he estimates would be paid to the Treasury if the ceiling on national insurance contributions for employees were abolished.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government Actuary's Department estimate the full-year yields from abolishing the upper earnings limit on National Insurance Contributions to be #3.8 billion in 2002–03 and #4.3 billion in 2003–04.
	These estimates are based on the November 2002 pre-Budget report.

Mortgage Rates

Neil Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the monthly interest payments on a standard rate mortgage of #40,000 over 25 years was in (a) June 1997 and (b) June 2002.

Ruth Kelly: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  June 1997 June 2002 
		
		
			 Average building society rates 6.98 per cent. 5.02 per cent. 
			 Monthly interest payments #232.67 #167.33 
			 Annual repayments #2,792 #2,008

Mortgage Rates

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the proportion of new mortgage lending in each of the last 12 months has been at (a) variable and (b) fixed rates; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
	The percentage of new mortgage lending in each of the past 12 months where the initial rate of interest has been (a) variable and (b) fixed as follows:
	
		
			  New mortgages for house purchase  
			 Month Variable Fixed 
		
		
			 November 2001 68.1 31.9 
			 December 2001 83.6 16.4 
			 January 2002 67.4 32.6 
			 February 2002 70.2 29.8 
			 March 2002 71.5 28.5 
			 April 2002 73.9 26.1 
			 May 2002 76.9 23.1 
			 June 2002 79.1 20.9 
			 July 2002 81.8 18.2 
			 August 2002 82.6 17.4 
			 September 2002 80.7 19.3 
			 October 2002 77.3 22.7 
		
	
	Source:
	ODPM Survey of Mortgage Lenders
	It should be noted that most mortgages taken out at an initial fixed rate of interest will revert to a variable rate of interest after a fixed period of time, unless of course the borrower then chooses to remortgage at another fixed rate of interest.
	The figures in the table are based on a variable sample of new mortgages ranging from 15,000 to 30,000 per month.

Bermuda

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer why his Department omitted Bermuda from its list of Caribbean overseas territories submitted to the December meeting of ECOFIN in the document Savings-Report from the United Kingdom.

Dawn Primarolo: In accordance with the conclusions of the European Council of Santa Maria da Feira in June 2000, before the savings directive can be adopted, the UK is required to give sufficient reassurances that its associated or dependent territories listed in the conclusions would adopt the same measures as EU member states. These territories are the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and the Caribbean Overseas Territories. Bermuda is not included in the list of dependent or associated territories agreed at the Feira European Council.

Cayman Islands

Graham Brady: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely implications for movement of capital into and out of Cayman Islands financial institutions as a result of compliance with the EU Draft Savings Directive if Switzerland (a) agrees and (b) does not agree to be bound by the directive.

Dawn Primarolo: The European Council meeting in Santa Maria de Feira on 20 June 2000 agreed that adoption of the EU draft Directive on Taxation of Savings was dependent on the EU receiving sufficient reassurances that relevant dependent or associated territories will adopt the same measures as EU Member States, and that six named third countries will adopt equivalent measures. The list of third countries includes Switzerland. The UK has sought the necessary reassurances from the dependent and associated territories only on the basis that equivalent measures are agreed with the named third countries.
	The impact of the Directive on any jurisdiction will depend on a range of factors, including the volume of undeclared savings income that EU residents hold in the jurisdiction concerned.

Charities

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce the level of VAT levied on works to buildings owned by charities.

John Healey: There is no VAT on the construction or purchase of new buildings that charities intend to use for residential or non-business purposes or as village halls. Long-standing formal agreements with our European partners do not enable us to introduce any new zero rates or a reduced rate of VAT for other works to existing non-residential buildings.

Government Borrowing

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of Government borrowing on commercial borrowing rates.

Paul Boateng: There is some evidence to suggest that Government borrowing affects their cost relative to wholesale commercial borrowing rates (as measured by swap spreads). However, there is no clear-cut evidence of a significant impact of Government borrowing on commercial borrowing rates.

Landfill Tax

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he forecasts will be raised (a) in the UK and (b) in Scotland from the landfill tax in each financial year from 2002–03 to 2006–07.

John Healey: Projected landfill tax receipts for the UK in 2002–03 and 2003–04 are shown in Table B12 of pre-Budget report 2002 (Cm 5664), and are #0.5 billion and #0.7 billion, respectively. For the financial years 2004–05 and 2006–07 projected landfill tax receipts for the UK are included in Xother taxes and royalties" in Table B11, and are not recorded separately.
	Projected landfill tax receipts for Scotland are not available separately.

Landfill Tax

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been raised (a) in the UK and (b) in Scotland by the landfill tax in each financial year since 1997–98.

John Healey: Cash receipts from the landfill tax are shown in the Office for National Statistics publication XFinancial Statistics". Landfill tax was introduced on 1 October 1996. Since 1 April 1997 the annual yield from landfill tax in the UK is as follows:
	
		
			  Cash receipts (# million) 
		
		
			 1997–98 361 
			 1998–99 333 
			 1999–2000 430 
			 2000–01 461 
			 2001–02 505 
		
	
	Separate data on the amount of landfill tax revenue raised in Scotland are not available.

Local Government Finance

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much central Government funding was given to local government in each year since 1997 (a) in total and (b) for each local authority.

Nick Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.
	The amount of central Government funding that was given to local government in total in each year since 1997 is set out in the following table.
	
		# billion 
		
			  Revenue grants(22) Capital grants(23) 
		
		
			 1997–98 35.9 1.3 
			 1998–99 37.8 1.2 
			 1999–2000 40.0 1.2 
			 2000–01 43.1 1.3 
			 2001–02 45.2 2.0 
			 2002–03 48.0 2.5 
		
	
	(22) 1997–98 to 2000–01 are outturn figures. 2001–02 and 2002–03 are budgeted figures.
	(23) 1997–98 to 2000–01 are outturn figures. 2001–02 and 2002–03 are provisional figures.
	Source:
	1997–98 to 2000–01 RO and COR forms, 2001–02 and 2002–03 RA forms, 2001–02 CPR4 form and 2002–03 CER form.
	The figures for individual local authorities have been placed in the Library of the House.
	Revenue funding consists of Revenue Support Grant, redistributed Non-Domestic Rates, Principal Formula Police Grant, SSA Reduction Grant, Central Support Protection Grant, GLA General Grant and Specific Grants within Aggregate external finance. Capital funding consists of Central Government Grant. Funding to the housing revenue account is not included.

Post Office Card Account

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer [pursuant to his answer of 28 November 2002, Official Report, columns 466–67W], on the post office card account, what alternative arrangements will be available in April 2003 for child tax credit recipients who will not be able to use the PIN number associated with a post office card account.

Dawn Primarolo: Customers receiving direct payment of child tax credit will be able to choose from a range of account options. For some people the post office card account may not be the most suitable option and they may prefer to use an account with a cheque book or pass book.
	Customers who would like a post office card account will, in April 2003, initially be paid by girocheque for the reasons given by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in his answer of 3 December. When the card account comes into use for tax credits, those customers who are unable to use a PIN and card will be able to nominate someone else to collect their money for them. In these cases, a second card will be issued. Alternatively they may nominate someone to deal with all their tax credit affairs.
	It has always been recognised that there may be a small number of people who are unable to operate any kind of bank account. In these circumstances, tax credits claimants will receive their direct payments of tax credits by girocheque.

Recycling

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much will be ring fenced for recycling programmes in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in each year from 2002–03 to 2006–07;
	(2)  how much will be allocated to the budget for the Scottish Executive to encourage recycling in Scotland in each year from 2002–03 to 2006–07.

John Healey: Responsibility for environment policy is a devolved matter. Decisions about expenditure on recycling in the Devolved Administrations are a matter for the respective administrations. In England, ring-fenced funds for recycling total #50 million in 2002–03 and #90 million in 2003–04.
	As announced in the pre-Budget report, final decisions on additional public expenditure on waste for the 2002 Spending Review period will be made as part of the Budget process. The Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Executive, will be responsible for their respective expenditure allocations.

Tax Credits

David Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further action he intends to take to promote the take up of new tax credits in April 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: The publicity campaign for the two new tax credits—Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit began in September. An 'announcement' TV advertisement designed to set the scene generally was followed by a second wave of TV adverts aimed at existing tax credits claimants. The current, third, phase of the campaign takes a number of families that together represent the broad range of people entitled to the new tax credits. This phase includes TV, radio, press and online advertising.
	A further phase of advertising will begin mid January and run until the end of the month. This will remind claimants of the changes taking place in April, and in particular of the way support for children will be redirected from the pay packet, to the person in the family mainly responsible for the children.

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Inland Revenue has completed its study of the 3,250 tax credit cases identified by the NAO to assess the level of fraud; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 19 September 2002 to the hon. Member for Hertsmere, Official Report, column 207W.

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Inland Revenue has completed its analysis of the take-up of tax credits using the Family Resources Survey; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 24 July 2002, Official Report, column 1191W.

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have applied for the higher children's tax credit paid to families in the year of a child's birth.

Dawn Primarolo: Claim forms for children's tax credit have been included in Xbounty packs" given to new mothers around the time of their baby's birth. To 5 December the Inland Revenue has received 85,000 applications for children's tax credit for babies born on or after 6 april 2002.

Taxation and Savings (Draft Directive)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the EU draft directive on taxation and savings on UK overseas territories.

Dawn Primarolo: The EU draft directive on taxation of savings seeks to combat cross-border tax evasion on savings income by EU residents. The adoption of this Directive is conditional on the EU receiving sufficient reassurances that relevant dependent or associated territories will adopt the same measures. The impact of adopting such measures will depend on a range of factors, including the volume of underclared savings income that EU residents hold in these jurisdictions.

Taxation and Savings (Draft Directive)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  which overseas territories will have to comply with the EU draft directive on taxation and savings;
	(2)  what reasons underlay the decision not to include Bermuda in the EU draft directive on taxation and savings.

Dawn Primarolo: The dependent and associated territories listed in the conclusions of the European Council of Santa Maria da Feira in June 2000 are the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and EU Member States' dependent or associated territories in the Caribbean. These were the dependent and associated territories, together with six named third countries, that EU Ministers decided sufficient reassurances should be obtained from before deciding on the adoption of the Directive. EU Ministers also agreed in the same conclusions that Xexchange of information, on as wide a basis as possible, shall be the ultimate objective of the EU in line with international developments."

Working Families Tax Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of recipients of the working families tax credit who are paid below the minimum wage; and what recent work his Department has undertaken to prosecute firms paying below the minimum wage.

Dawn Primarolo: The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 contains a number of provisions empowering enforcement officers to take civil action against non-paying employers and the Inland Revenue always uses these in the first instance.
	Since the national minimum wage was introduced in April 1999 the Inland Revenue has issued around 450 enforcement notices requiring employers to start paying the minimum wage and make good any arrears, and identified over #11 million in arrears. A minority of disputed cases have been considered by employment tribunals. To date there have been no criminal prosecutions in relation to underpayment of the minimum wage.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Drug Action Team

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what independent audit is made of statistics compiled by the Drug Action Team.

Bob Ainsworth: Drug Action Teams (DATs) use information gathered from a variety of sources including statutory agencies such as the police, central Government (e.g. census surveys) and local service providers. The information is then used to inform the DAT's planning and reporting processes.
	DAT plans are analysed by regional teams consisting of Home Office officials, National Treatment Agency representatives and representatives of other Government Departments who sit in the Government office. They give careful scrutiny to all the information provided. Any quantitative information is rigorously checked to ensure its accuracy. If there is any doubt, the DAT—and the agency that provided it—is asked to verify that information.
	DAT annual returns are monitored in the same way, except that the information is scrutinised at central Government level. At the same time, Home Office representatives in the regions are able to provide an independent view of the DAT's report.

Animal Experiments

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in implementing the Government's commitment to reduction, refinement and replacement of animals in experiments.

Bob Ainsworth: The Home Office has developed and put in place a strategy to ensure that policy on the use of animals in scientific procedures is reviewed continuously as scientific and ethical considerations evolve, checking that the costs to animals are minimised and remain outweighed by the potential benefits of the work.
	We are continuing to work to ensure that the highest possible standards of welfare are applied to animals used in scientific procedures and that they are used only where it is fully justified—where the benefits outweigh the costs and where there are no suitable alternatives. To this end we are promoting the fullest application of the 3Rs—the replacement of procedures with others which do not use animals, the reduction of the number of animals used and the refinement of procedures to minimise pain and suffering.
	The use of animals in regulated procedures is prohibited by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in cases where a scientifically valid non-animal alternative is available. In deciding whether to grant a licence for any regulated procedure, the 1986 Act requires that the likely benefits of the programme are weighed against the likely adverse effects on the animals concerned (the cost/benefit assessment) and that there are no alternatives which either replace animal use entirely, reduce the number of animals needed or refine the procedures to minimise suffering (the 3Rs). We must also be satisfied that the procedures are likely to achieve the stated objectives. There are usually negotiations between the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate and the applicant to ensure that the 3Rs are rigorously applied in every case.
	The Government advocates the 3Rs strategy believing that the most immediate prospects are for reducing the number of animals used through better science and better experimental design, and refining procedures so that the suffering of any animals necessarily used is minimised. The long-term hope of eliminating the need for live animal experiments altogether lies in the proper development, validation and acceptance of replacement alternative methods.
	In addition to the rigorous application of the 3Rs we have gained the endorsement of Government Departments of the principle of data sharing and agreement that UK regulatory agencies should encourage industry to extend the scope for sharing animal test data in the field of regulatory safety testing. An inter-Departmental concordat has therefore been developed as a first step in this process and should enable Government Departments to help eliminate the risk of duplication of tests on animals.

Animal Experiments

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what plans he has to introduce an administrative centre to check that the commitment to reduction, refinement and replacement in experimentation is being adhered to;
	(2)  what plans he has to legislate to update scientific procedures using animals.

Bob Ainsworth: These matters are the subject of recommendations in the report published on 24 July 2002 by the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures. The report contained a total of seven conclusions and 31 recommendations, including the proposal to establish a Centre for the Three Rs. All of the recommendations are being carefully and thoroughly considered. The Government has six months to respond to the report, and there will then be a debate in the House of Lords. It would meanwhile be inappropriate for Ministers to offer detailed comment.

Anti-Racism

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what resources he has made available, and at what cost, for the preparation of a national plan against racism in line with undertakings given at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in September 2001; and which departmental staff, and at what grade, have been assigned to this task.

Beverley Hughes: We have funded an extensive consultation of non-governmental organisations on the development of the national action plan. This included a series of seminars in September and October 2002 and a national conference in Manchester on 20 November 2002. I have made #27,800 available for this consultation process.
	The national action plan is being developed by the Race Equality Unit of the Home Office, in consultation with other Government Departments, the devolved Administrations and a wide range of non-governmental organisations. Within the Race Equality Unit, this work has been taken forward by a grade 7, senior executive officer, executive officer, and administrative officer.

Ball-Bearing Guns

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will include ball-bearing guns within his proposed new regulations for air guns.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 9 December 2002
	Ball-bearing guns (more accurately known as airsoft guns) are very low powered, and not subject to the same controls as air weapons. We are, however, considering how to improve controls on the possession of airguns and imitation firearms in a public place. Our consideration of this covers airsoft guns.

Children (Workplace Protection)

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation he proposes to bring forward to provide better protection for children in the workplace; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Brown: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for health and safety at work.
	The Government take the health and safety of children very seriously and the United Kingdom has therefore fully implemented rigorous EU requirements to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employed young people below 18 years, including those on work experience. Employers also have duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 towards those who are not working but may be affected by the work activity. The Department has no plans to bring forward further general health and safety legislation concerning children in the workplace.

Children's Rights

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government plans to ratify the Optional Protocol on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

Hilary Benn: The United Kingdom signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography in September 2000 and intends to ratify it at the earliest opportunity. We need to introduce a range of new offences to ensure that we are fully compliant with the instrument before we can ratify it, several of which, relating to trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and the sexual exploitation of children for gain, will be included in the forthcoming Sexual Offences Bill.
	The Optional Protocol also, however, requires the criminalisation of behaviour which does not fall within the scope of the Sexual Offences Bill, such as trafficking people for the sake of:
	exploiting their labour;
	transfer of organs; and
	illegal adoptions.
	These measures are being pursued separately and will also require primary legislation to allow us to ratify the instrument. It is not therefore possible to say precisely when we will be in a position to ratify the instrument.

Correspondence

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to give a substantive response to the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford's letters of 1 July and 22 October relating to constituent Bright Omokaro (ref 0170340).

Beverley Hughes: I wrote to the hon. Member on 11 December 2002.

Corruption

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK nationals have been prosecuted for foreign corruption activities under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: These provisions came into force on 14 February 2002. They do not have retrospective effect and therefore apply only to acts committed after that date. The prosecution authorities have informed us that there have been no prosecutions to date but given the lack of retrospectivity this is unsurprising.
	In the 25 years since 1977, the United States of America has prosecuted only about 60 cases under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related legislation.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how frequently the Government policy on domestic violence has been changed since 1997; and when it is next scheduled to be updated.

John Denham: The Government have developed their policy on domestic violence over the period from 1997, and continue to do so. As we have already announced, we will be publishing a consultation paper on domestic violence by the spring.

Fuel Tax Evasion

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests were made for evading fuel taxes during the last year for which figures are available, broken down by constabulary.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The information is not collected centrally at the level required.

Homeless People (Drug Addicts)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the proportion of homeless people who are drug addicts.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 9 December 2002
	An assessment of the link is made regularly with updated research conducted through various sources. The Government's Rough Sleepers Unit has succeeded in reducing the numbers sleeping rough on any one night by two-thirds. This has however resulted in the percentage of those who are hardest to help—drug-using homeless people—rising, due to drug-using homeless being left on the streets whilst others can be more easily accommodated.
	By July 2002, research by the charity Crisis, supported by the Home Office, found that 83 per cent of single homeless people were drug users. Other studies confirm that among those remaining single rough sleepers, drug misuse problems are of this level of magnitude—between 50 and 80 per cent.
	In awareness of this linkage, much work has been done to improve the delivery of drug services to homeless people. On 4 December 2002 the Home Office and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister jointly published new guidance entitled XDrug Services for Homeless People: a good practice handbook" (published on the Government website www.drugs.gov.uk) which is aimed at addressing these figures through mainstream and specialised drug services.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports have been lost at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what steps he has taken to ensure passports are not lost.

Beverley Hughes: The information requested by the hon. Member is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost; however the Immigration and Nationality Directorate issue letters to the members of the public where the document cannot be traced. In the year 2000, 97 such letters were issued; and 103 letters in 2001. As at 29 November 2002 a total of 314 letters have been issued in the year to date.
	We are constantly looking for ways of improving the service we provide to the public and we are currently considering a number of initiatives which have the potential to achieve this.

Iraqi Kurds

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi Kurds have been refused asylum in the past year.

Beverley Hughes: The tables show asylum initial decisions and appeal outcomes made on asylum applications from Iraqi nationals for each of the last 12 months. Appeal outcomes in any given time period do not necessarily relate to initial decisions made in the same period.
	It is not possible to say how many of the applicants are of Kurdish origin. Data on the ethnic origin of asylum seekers are not collated centrally and could be produced by examination of individual case-files only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will cover the period October to December 2002, and will be available from 28 February 2003 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Table 1: initial decisions(24),(25) on applications received for asylum in the United Kingdom from nationals of Iraq, excluding dependants, October 2001 to September 2002 -- Principal applicants
		
			  Total initial decisions Grants of asylum Grants of ELR Refusals 
		
		
			  
			 2001 
			 October 635 65 210 360 
			 November 505 70 165 265 
			 December 530 50 195 285 
			 2002 
			 January 910 85 435 390 
			 February 765 65 405 290 
			 March 860 65 585 210 
			 April 980 75 705 200 
			 May 890 65 625 200 
			 June 675 55 445 175 
			 July 1,065 65 785 215 
			 August 885 45 660 175 
			 September 1,120 40 815 265 
			 Total 9,820 755 6,030 3,035 
		
	
	(24) Figures have been rounded to the nearest five, and are provisional.
	(25) Information is of initial determination decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
	
		Table 2: outcome of asylum appeals brought by nationals of Iraq, determined by adjudicators of the immigration appellate authority (IAA), October 2001 to September 2002 by month(26) -- Principal appellants
		
			  Total Allowed Dismissed Withdrawn(27) 
		
		
			 2001  
			 October 255 60 175 25 
			 November 280 60 185 35 
			 December 230 40 165 25 
			 2002 
			 January 325 65 220 40 
			 February 390 105 255 25 
			 March 430 105 285 40 
			 April 495 135 320 40 
			 May 470 130 300 40 
			 June 320 80 210 30 
			 July 380 65 280 35 
			 August 420 90 280 45 
			 September 395 100 255 40 
			 Total 4,390 1,035 2,940 420 
		
	
	(26) Provisional figures rounded to the nearest five. Appeals do not necessarily relate to initial Home Office decisions in the same month.
	(27) Figures include cases withdrawn by the Home Office as well as the appellant.

Marsham Street Redevelopment

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the contract with Annes Gate Property plc to supply timber for the building work at 2 Marsham Street.

Beverley Hughes: A copy of the relevant sections of the contract between the Home Office and Annes Gate Property plc has been placed in the Library.

Registered Charities

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the proposal in the Cabinet Office report, XPrivate Action, Public Benefit", that charities with an annual income of under #10,000 would no longer be able to call themselves registered charities.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The Cabinet Office report, XPrivate Action, Public Benefit", was published on 25 September 2002. Its 61 recommendations set out a package of measures which aim to modernise the law and enable a wide range of organisations to be more effective and innovative.
	One of the recommendations is that the threshold for compulsory regulation with the Charity Commission should be raised from those organisations with an annual income of #1,000 to those with an annual income of #10,000. Currently, active monitoring by the Commission applies only to those charities with an annual income of #10,000 or more.
	The report recommends that the threshold for registration and the threshold where active monitoring kicks in should logically be one and the same. This would result in two-thirds of charities being released from the bureaucratic burden of registration, and is entirely in line with this Government's, emphasis on deregulation.
	I can understand the concern that being unable to describe an organisation as a registered charity may have an effect on public confidence. In fact, the report recognises this, and a further recommendation is that all charities below the new registration threshold should have the status of 'Small Charities'. This would also allow tax repayment claims to the Inland Revenue to continue, and for funders to treat 'Small Charities' in the same way as registered charities.
	Of course, at the moment these are only proposals. The report is out for consultation until 31 December 2002, and we shall consider the responses to this, and all the other matters addressed in the report, very carefully.

Sex Offenders

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to revise the notification requirements for Schedule One offenders.

Hilary Benn: The Government's intention to bring forward a Sexual Offences Bill during this session was announced in the Queen's Speech on 19 November; we published a command paper, 'Protecting the Public', setting out our proposals. In relation to the notification requirements on sex offenders, these include:
	registered offenders will be required to confirm annually and in person at their local police station that the information held about them is still up to date;
	a new order to make those convicted of sex offences overseas register their details when they come to the UK;
	a reduction in the period of time an offender can spend at an address other than his main home before he is required to notify the police of the address. This will be reduced from 14 days to seven days;
	a reduction in the period within which a sex offender must notify the police of change of name or address from 14 days to three days; and
	a new requirement on offenders to provide their national insurance details when registering. This will make it easier to identify and find those offenders who try to evade the registration requirements.
	'Schedule One offender' is a categorisation generally used in respect of offenders who have committed an offence against a child listed in Schedule One to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. That list includes sexual offences, offences of violence, of cruelty and neglect and any other offence resulting in the bodily injury of a child under the age of 18. The list of offences under Schedule One is used, sometimes in conjunction with other indicators of risk, to determine whether an individual might be unsuitable to work with, care for or have unsupervised contact with children. It is important to note that not all Schedule One offenders are sex offenders. There are no notification requirements on Schedule One offenders.

Drugs Strategy

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if all drug treatment programmes supported by the updated drug strategy have the aim of ending the use of (a) illegal drugs and (b) prescription methadone and diamorphine where prescribed, by individuals undergoing treatment.

Bob Ainsworth: The clear message from the updated drug strategy is that drug misuse is illegal and will remain so. All controlled drugs are dangerous and nobody should take them. The focus of the updated drug strategy remains to reduce and end the use of illegal drugs.
	The primary goal of all treatment should be abstinence while recognising that some drug misusers may require longer term support to achieve this. Prescribing methadone or diamorphine as a substitute for illicit opiates has proven benefits for certain individuals and for society, particularly in terms of stabilising the individual, reducing injecting behaviour and criminal activity.

Drugs Strategy

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the additional number of places on (a) diamorphine and (b) methadone schemes that will be made available as a result of the Updated Drug Strategy.

Bob Ainsworth: Since 1997 the number of treatment services in England has increased by a third. There are now 235 drug specialist community prescribing services and 300 general practitioner prescribing services in England. Under the Updated Drug Strategy, the National Treatment Agency will continue to work on increasing the number and capacity of all treatment services.

Drugs Strategy

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what targets he has set for the reduction of waiting times for admission to drug rehabilitation programmes as a result of the Updated Drug Strategy;
	(2)  what estimates he has for the likely reduction of waiting times for admission to drug rehabilitation programmes as a result of the Updated Drug Strategy.

Bob Ainsworth: The National Treatment Agency (NTA) has already made significant progress on reducing waiting times locally. They have published national targets to reduce the time between someone being referred to treatment and receiving that treatment.
	With additional funding from the 2002 Spending Review, we will invest in an expansion of quality provision to ensure that treatment is readily available to all those who need it. The NTAs targets are that by 2004, maximum waiting times from referral to receipt of treatment should be no more than two weeks for in-patient detoxification and GP prescribing and three weeks for all other forms of treatment.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Police Recruits

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Police Service of Northern Ireland recruits have dropped out of training since the formation of the PSNI; how many such recruits have dropped out of training owing to intimidation; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Since the commencement of the PSNI's Foundation Course in autumn 2001, nine recruits have left voluntarily. In the same period, three recruits to the PSNI have also been dismissed.
	None of these resignations has been due to intimidation. Extremists from both sides of the community have, at times, sought to intimidate police officers and their families, and it is a remarkable reflection of the commitment shown by police trainees to date that none of them have resigned as a result.

Police Recruits

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many PSNI recruits have been asked to leave training in order to balance those from a different perceived communal background who have left training; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to question reference number 84606.

Police Service (Chief Inspector)

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether it is the Government's policy to require resignations or redundancies from over-represented sections in the event of a resignation by a trainee police officer in order to maintain the 50/50 recruitment quota for Catholics/non-Catholics in the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 requires the Chief Constable to appoint police trainees on a 50 per cent. Catholic, 50 per cent. non-Catholic basis. This requirement applies only to the appointments process; it ceases to apply after police trainees have taken their place on the training course.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Abandoned Vehicles

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he intends to introduce measures to enable local authorities to remove abandoned vehicles from private land.

Michael Meacher: I have been asked to reply.
	Local authorities are already under a duty (Section 3(1) of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978) to remove a vehicle which is abandoned in their area on any land in the open air or on any other land forming part of a highway.
	For vehicles abandoned on private land, the local authority enters onto the land using their powers under section 8(1) of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978. They then serve on the landowner or the occupier a 15 day notice requiring them to remove the vehicle. If no representations are received then the local authority can remove the vehicle following the expiry of the 15 day period. Objections to the notice must be made by the landowner or occupier to the Chief Officer at the local authority within the 15 day period and the landowner or occupier must outline their reasons why they consider that the vehicle is not abandoned. If the local authority accepts the representations then the vehicle can remain on the land. If the local authority rejects the representations they will then remove the vehicle.
	We intend to consult in the New Year on reducing the statutory notice periods for vehicles abandoned on private land.

Area Cost Adjustment

Michael Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in the Local Government Finance Report (England) 200304, what earnings figure was used to calculate the area cost adjustment for each local authority and for each category as listed in Annex H, page 84.

Christopher Leslie: The Area Cost Adjustment uses data drawn from the New Earnings Surveys for 1999, 2000 and 2001. A full methodology guide to how this data is used, with the results for each area of the country, has been published on the office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website www.local.odpm.gov.uk/fmance/0304/acatech.pdf). A copy has also been placed in the Library of the House.

Area Cost Adjustment

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the area cost adjustments for (a) local education authority education, (b) police, (c) general local government and (d) other local services are calculated on the same basis; and if he will place in the Library the formula for calculating area cost adjustment weightings and the weightings derived from the formula for (i) each local authority area receiving area cost adjustment, (ii) the City of York and (iii) North Yorkshire county council.

Christopher Leslie: The method for calculating the labour and business rate elements of the area cost adjustment is the same for all local government services. What varies between services is the proportion of total costs assumed to relate to labour and business rates respectively. A full methodology guide has been placed in the Library of the House. The resulting area costs factors for all authorities are published in annex H of the draft Local Government Finance Report, which was placed in the Vote Office and the Library of the House on 5 December 2002. The City of York and North Yorkshire county council do not receive an area cost top-up.

Cabinet Office (Spring Supplementary Estimate)

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the uses of the additions to net provisions for the Cabinet Office under the RfR1heading in the Cabinet Office Spring Supplementary Estimate, February 2002 (Cm 5354); and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	The change in net provision in RfRl-A arises from a number of transactions including: machinery of government transfers between Cabinet Office and the Home Office, the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; other transfers between Cabinet Office and other Departments, for example, for fast steam recruitment; the draw down of resource from the DEL reserve; and intra-departmental adjustments. Details of the uses of the additions to sub head Al are shown in the introduction to the Spring Supplementary Estimate.

Compulsory Purchase

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to give councils greater powers compulsorily to purchase houses that remain empty for long periods; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to give local authorities greater powers to enable them to compulsorily purchase houses that remain empty for long periods. However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is considering proposals to enable them to take over the management of long-term empty residential properties. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will make a statement in due course.

Fire Dispute

Andrew Selous: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 2 December, ref 84214, what proportion of a pay offer to the firefighters in excess of 4 per cent.will be met by local authorities; and who will pay transitional costs.

Nick Raynsford: As made clear in my answer to the hon. Member on 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 629W. any pay award, not affordable within existing public expenditure, must be paid for by modernisation. The Position Paper by the Independent Review of the Fire Service set out a clear programme of reform and modernisation in the Fire Service, which would lead to significant extra resources being freed up, which could lead to increases in firefighters' pay.
	The first step is for the employers and the Fire Brigades Union to agree how those savings can be generated, and over what timescale. There is no point speculating about transitional costs at this stage.

Housing

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government will meet the costs currently borne by those tenants not eligible for housing benefit through rent pooling following its introduction of Supporting People (a) for all tenants and (b) for those in sheltered accommodation.

Tony McNulty: The Government is making additional funds available to meet a proportion of the costs of support that have identified as a result of the un-pooling of support costs from housing revenue accounts. After the introduction of Supporting People tenants who currently pay their own support costs, including those in sheltered accommodation will continue to do so. Any transitional relief for tenants not eligible for housing benefit will be met from the Housing Revenue Account, where an authority decides to provide such relief.

Housing

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Government's recent announcement of maintenance and management allowances for council housing, with specific reference to the outcome for Stroud District Council.

Tony McNulty: Stroud District Council's management and maintenance (MM) allowances have for many years been higher than their long term MM targets.
	Authorities in this position have had their allowances reduced gradually over a number of years to bring them towards their targets without imposing sudden very large drops in allowances. For 200304, we are proposing that Stroud's managementallowance will be set at #309.08, or 98 per cent. of last year's allowance, so that they will be 2 per cent. over their 200304 management target of #301.77. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister proposes an increase of 4.7 per cent. in their maintenance allowance to #533.33, so that their allowance will be just below their new maintenance target of #533.37. In aggregate this represents an increase in their allowances of some 2.15 per cent.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has announced national average real increases of 6 per cent. for both management and maintenance allowances for 200405 and 200506. Together with changes to take account of rent restructuring, this is equivalent to an average cash increase of #268 per dwelling by the second year.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently reviewing the allocation of management and maintenance allowances to ensure this new money is shared out as fairly as possible between authorities, while avoiding unnecessary complexity. It is
	therefore not possible to say what the outcome for any individual authority will be insubsequent years.

Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will publish the Survey of English Housing 200102.

Tony McNulty: Some of the key findings from the 200102 survey were published on 20 August in XHousing Statistics Summary No. 13 a copy of which was placed in the libraries of the House. Since then tables have been produced for individual users on request. It is planned to publish a large batch of tables on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website on 20 December 2002. A printed report will be published later in 2003, when the results have been updated to take account of population figures from the 2001 Census. (Results produced so far have been provisional in that the household figures used to gross the survey data have been estimates based to some extent on the 1991 Census.)

Local Authorities

Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if it is his policy that local community and strategic partnerships should be subject to Local Authorities (Admission to Assets) legislation.

Christopher Leslie: Local Strategic Partnerships are non-statutory bodies, entirely separate from local authorities. LSPs which register as companies limited by guarantee will be subject to the rules and procedures that apply to such companies.

Malicious Fires

Paul Holmes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many malicious fires were recorded in (a) Derbyshire and (b) Chesterfield in each year since 1992, broken down by (i) categories of dwellings, (ii) other buildings, (iii) road vehicles and (iv) other locations.

Christopher Leslie: The following table contains information on the number of malicious fires attended by local authority fire brigades in Derbyshire in each year between 1992 and 2000 (the latest year for which data are available). Malicious fires are those where malicious or deliberate ignition was proved or suspected (this includes fires which were recorded by the brigade as Xdoubtful). Incident data are not available below brigade area level.
	
		Malicious fires (28),(29) in Derbyshire by location, 19922000p -- Dwellings/Fires(30)
		
			   Total Single occupancy Multiple occupancy Other or unspecified Other buildings Road vehicles Other 
		
		
			  
			 1992 786 63 34 16 13 162 487 74 
			 1993 819 60 23 20 17 172 496 91 
			 1994 954 114 38 19 58 315 459 67 
			 1995 885 89 44 22 23 248 458 91 
			 1996 940 107 59 30 18 211 496 126 
			 1997 949 123 51 41 31 205 507 114 
			 1998 1,003 120 75 31 14 204 567 112 
			 1999 1,244 120 63 46 11 216 805 103 
			 2000p 1,225 117 65 37 15 193 802 113 
		
	
	(28) Including late call heat and smoke damage incidents (not recorded prior to 1994).
	(29) From 1994 onwards figures are based on sampled data weighted to true brigade totals.
	(30) Figures are rounded and the components do not necessarily sum to the independently rounded totals.
	(31) A small number of late call heat and smoke damage incidents were not recorded in 1995.
	p Provisional

Planning

Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether an environmental impact assessment is required for applications to amend planning permissions where such an assessment (a) was required and (b) would have been required had it not predated the introduction of environmental impact assessments.

Tony McNulty: Applications to vary a condition attached to a planning permission are subject to the same requirements as other planning applications for the purposes of environmental impact assessment (EIA). For certain types of project EIA is mandatory. For others, EIA is required if the project meets prescribed criteria and the planning authority considers that it is likely to have significant effects on the environment. This applies to applications to vary a permission regardless of whether EIA was required for the original permission or whether that permission predated the introduction of EIA.

PPG3

Mark Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the research being conducted by Nathaniel Litchfield and Partners to assess the implementation of PPG3 was commissioned through open tender; what the cost is of this research; and what assessment of possible conflicts of interest was made.

Tony McNulty: The tendering exercise and award process were carried out in accordance with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's procurement guidelines. The intention to carry out the work was advertised in the Planning Research Newsletter. Six companies from those submitting a formal expression of interest were invited to tender and three were interviewed. Nathaniel Litchfield and Partners Limited were awarded the contract on a tender price of #59,895 because of team composition, experience, cost and overall value for money. No conflicts of interest were identified.

Regional Assemblies

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his proposed direction to the Boundary Committee on the timetable of reviews of local government structure in areas which give a positive reaction to holding a referendum on regional assemblies.

Christopher Leslie: The Government launched a consultation on draft guidance to the Boundary Committee for England on 2 December 2002. Should the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill become law, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister would then decide in which region or regions there should be a local government review. A review is likely to take around nine to 12 months to complete.

Regional Assemblies

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many letters he has had (a) in support of and (b) in opposition to the establishment of a regional assembly in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber, (ii) the South East, (iii) the South West, (iv) the East of England, (v) the West Midlands, (vi) the East Midlands and (vii) the North West; what his estimate is of the cost of a referendum on regional government in each of those regions; what research he has commissioned into the likely outcome of a referendum on regional government in each of those regions; and what his estimate is of the cost of local government reorganisation in each region should regional government be established.

Christopher Leslie: The White Paper XYour Region, Your Choice was not a consultation exercise, except on the issue of stakeholder involvement with elected regional assemblies, and therefore did not invite views either for or against the principle of establishing assemblies. However, between the dates of 9 May 2002, when the White Paper was published, and 30 November 2002, we recorded 1,200 written and e-mailed pieces of correspondence on the subject of elected regional assemblies. Of those which can be identified by region, responses were identified as follows:
	16 in favour, 33 opposed and 27 either undecided or expressing mixed views in Yorkshire and the Humber;
	18 in favour, 142 opposed and 56 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the South East;
	26 in favour, 123 opposed and 124 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the South West;
	11 in favour, 35 opposed and 23 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the East of England;
	16 in favour, 165 opposed and 19 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the West Midlands;
	7 in favour, 27 opposed and 14 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the East Midlands; and
	29 in favour, 45 opposed and 34 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the North West.
	There were also 30 responses in favour, 10 opposed and 18 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the North East.
	The remaining 152 responses either came from elsewhere, or were e-mailed responses for which no region of origin could be identified.
	In addition, we have received 2,333 cut-out coupons as part of a campaign organised by Conservative MEPs in the South East opposing an elected regional assembly in the region, and 1,595 postcards as part of a campaign organised by the Cornish Constitutional convention in support of a referendum for a Cornish Assembly.
	Based on the cost of local authority mayoral referendums using all-postal ballots, the cost of a referendum may range from about #2 million in the North East to about #6 million in the South East.
	No research has been commissioned into the likely outcome of a referendum on regional government in each region. But the Government launched a soundings exercise on 2 December to find out the level of interest in each English region in holding a referendum on establishing an elected regional assembly. Views, information and evidence have been requested by 3 March 2003 and will inform the Secretary of State's consideration of the level of interest in each region in holding a referendum.
	It is not possible, at this stage, to make an estimate of the cost of local government reorganisation in each region, as much will depend on the precise details of the structure and boundary changes proposed by the Boundary Committee following the local government reviews.

Right to Buy

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to change the Right to Buy system; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to end the Right to Buy scheme, but sees difficulties with some aspects of the way in which the scheme is operating. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is looking at what can be done to tackle abuses and at the effects of the scheme in areas of high demand for housing.

Wind Farms

Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from the Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty on wind farms in areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is aware that the Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty has recently published a position statement on wind farms in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister welcomes the interest shown by all parties including the Association in the land use planning issues involved in the siting of any development, including wind farms, in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

HEALTH

Acute Hospitals

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute hospitals in England and Wales serve a population of less than 500,000.

John Hutton: All United Kingdom residents are entitled to national health service treatment. In the year 200102 there were 187 acute trusts in England, each of which may include more than one hospital. The population of England was some 49 million people, giving an average population of 260,000 per acute trust.

Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were on alcohol and drug rehabilitation schemes on the NHS in Leeds Strategic Health Authority area; how many were waiting for places; and how many were given places, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: Information relating to alcohol and drug rehabilitation schemes for the five primary care trusts serving the Leeds area is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Number of people accessing treatment 
		
		
			 199899 1,930 
			 19992000 2,498 
			 200001 2,366 
		
	
	Notes:
	Neither the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System NDTMS or Drugs Misuse Database (DMD) holds, or is designed to hold, data on the number of places available for drug and alcohol treatment on the NHS.
	Source:
	West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority
	Information relating to the number of national health service alcohol and drug rehabilitation places is not available.

Arson

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of arson against NHS properties there were; and what the cost of the damage was in each county in each year since 1992.

David Lammy: Our records show that a total of 2,496 fires have been started deliberately on national health service premises since 1995, resulting in damage costing an estimated #18.3 million.
	Figures are not available in the format requested. Figures by strategic health authority are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority Estimated total cost of damage (#) Number of deliberate fires 1995 to 2002 
		
		
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 56,695 142 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 137,150 29 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 10,312,959 121 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 335,493 116 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 72,965 59 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire and Herefordshire 66,062 17 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 291,143 159 
			 Dorset and Somerset 44,563 54 
			 Essex 86,535 31 
			 Greater Manchester 1,474,292 210 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 155,749 67 
			 Kent 282,596 51 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 126,856 87 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 20,030 79 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 28,091 66 
			 North Central London 29,439 77 
			 North East London 722,743 63 
			 North West London 116,300 22 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 462,611 222 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 109,860 46 
			 South East London 60,639 47 
			 South West London 31,801 56 
			 South West Peninsular 43,677 86 
			 South Yorkshire 122,873 58 
			 Surrey and Sussex 1,493,921 109 
			 Thames Valley 30,297 59 
			 Trent 61,155 122 
			 West Yorkshire 1,551,772 237 
			 Grand total 18,328,268 2,492

Care Homes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 5 December 2002, Official Report, column 975W, on care home registrations, for what reasons information on the (a) average length of time and (b) number of care home applications to be registered and processed by the NCSC is not available; and when he expects this information to be available.

Jacqui Smith: The National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) does not currently have the full information requested. This is because it requires inspections of services to have been carried out and recorded on the NCSC database. Not all services have yet been inspected and so are not included on the database.
	We expect the NCSC to be able to provide full information by the end of March 2003, when it will have finished its inspection programme.

Carers' Rights Day

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Carers' Rights Day; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: Carers' Rights Day is a one-day take-up campaign initiated and organised by Carers UK and questions concerning evaluation of the effectiveness of the day should be addressed to them directly. The Government supports the work done by Carers UK in promoting carers' issues and providing information and advice.

Computer Viruses

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of damage to patient records by computer viruses there have been in each of the past five years.

David Lammy: There are currently no reported instances of damage by computer viruses to national health service electronic patient records in any of the past five years.

Consultants

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultants have accepted national health service posts as international fellows as a result of the initiative whereby Sir Magdi Yacoub was appointed as the Government's Special Envoy for the national health service; and in which specialities.

John Hutton: 36 offers of appointment for the National Health Service International Fellowship Scheme have been made and accepted. Further offers of appointment are expected following recent and planned interviews.

Correspondence

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department will reply to the letter of 24 June from the hon. Member for Witney about the buildings of the Burford Hospital and their proposed sale .

David Lammy: A reply was sent on 9 December, which sets out a proposed way forward.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his Answer of 3rd December, Official Report, column 754W, on CRB checks, what assessment he has made of the effect on running costs of (a) children's homes, (b) residential care homes and (c) nursing homes of (i) delays to and (ii) postponement of Criminal Records Bureau checks.

Jacqui Smith: The postponement of criminal records checks for staff who were in post immediately before 1 April 2002 makes no change to the rigorous pre-employment checks which were already in place to ensure their suitability to work with children and vulnerable adults. As such we do not anticipate these postponements affecting care home running costs. For children's homes, there have been no changes or postponements to the checks required.
	We do not anticipate care homes incurring significant costs due to delays at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in processing applications for checks on new staff, or, in the case of children's homes, in processing applications for checks on all staff. The National Care Standards Commission has issued guidance to providers about the response to delays at the CRB in processing checks on new members of staff. The intention of the guidance is to enable providers to employ new members of staff in care homes, and all staff in children's homes, pending the completion of CRB checks while also ensuring the safety of residents.

Frictional Discharges

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 5 December 2002, Official Report, column 965W, on frictional discharges, what his definition is of minimal levels of delayed transfers by 2006; and if he has set a target to achieve this level.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not set a central target for 2006. It is our judgment that the financial incentives we are putting in place will ensure that the health and social care system delivers minimal delayed transfers by then.

Health Records

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the disclosure of health records by NHS trusts to third parties.

David Lammy: Patient information is generally held by national health service trusts under legal and ethical obligations of confidentiality. Information in health records should not be released to others without the consent of the patient concerned where the disclosure will identify the patient. The exceptions are where the information is effectively anonymised, is required by statute or the courts or if it is judged that there is a strong public interest justification in disclosure which overrides the duty of confidence to the patient. For example such circumstances would include the protection of the public and prevention of serious crime. Additionally there must not be a statutory prohibition against the release of the information and NHS trusts must have the vires to release information for the purpose in question. Any disclosure of patient information must satisfy these and any other data protection requirements.

Hospital Admissions

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the admissions to NHS hospitals where place of residence is not known in (a) December 1999 to January 2000 and (b) December 2000 to January 2001, broken down by NHS (i) region and (ii) trust.

John Hutton: Data on the number of admissions to national heath service hospitals where place of residence is not known from December 1999 to January 2000, and from December 2000 to January 2001, broken down by NHS region and trust, have been placed in the Library.

Medical Vacancies

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many medical and nursing vacancies there are within the NHS; and what measures are being taken by his Department to fill them.

John Hutton: The national health service vacancy survey is carried out annually on 30 March. As at 30 March 2002 there were 1,310 vacancies, posts that had been vacant for three months or more, for medical and dental staff and 8,390 vacancies for qualified nurses.
	Additional nurses and doctors are being employed as a result of increased throughput from training, improved recruitment and retention and international recruitment. Since 1997 the number of nurses working in the NHS has increased by an estimated 39,500 and the number of consultants by 4,980.

Mental Health Services

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of mental health service money will be allocated to (a) joint working between adult and children mental health services, (b) mental health professionals supporting other professionals working with children and (c) supporting youth offending teams between adult and children mental health services in each of the next three years.

Jacqui Smith: Guidance to health and local authorities on the further development of child and adolescent mental health services and the use of additional central funding over the period 200304 to 200506 is expected to be issued shortly. Within the terms of this guidance it will be for the local agencies to decide how their budgets are allocated.

Mental Health Services (Children)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent since 1997 on mental health services for children, broken down into budget headings.

Jacqui Smith: This information is not collected centrally. However, our estimate for likely expenditure on mental health services for children in 200102 is in the table.
	We recognise that much still needs to be done to improve child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). On 16 October, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that CAMHS would receive an additional #140 million over the next three years through increased grants to local authorities. This will help build capacity, improve access and, together with new national health service investment, help deliver a comprehensive CAMHS for every area.
	
		CAMHS
		
			  # million 
		
		
			 HCHS 289 
			 PSS 269 
			 Total 558 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Hospital and community health services (HCHS) costs exclude the costs of primary care and drugs.
	2. Personal social services (PSS) costs include children's social services (CSS) costs where appropriate.

Mental Health Services (Children)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of local social services departments have agreed a joint strategy for allocating mental health grants with local child and adolescent mental health services; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: Our information is that all health authorities and local authority social services departments have complied with the statutory requirement (notified in a Department of Health circular of May 1999) to work together to produce joint three-year development strategies to deliver the child and adolescent mental health services objectives set out in national priorities guidance 19992002. Targeted central funding of #85 million was provided to help support these developments, including #35 million in the form of grants to local authorities.

Mental Health Services (Children)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the budget for child and adolescent mental health services in the financial years 200002 was spent on mental health services for children.

Jacqui Smith: Budgetary information on local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is not collected centrally.
	Targeted funding for health and local authorities provided centrally to help support their joint CAMHS development strategies is expected to be spent for the purpose for which it is allocated.

Neurological Conditions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK with a neurological condition.

Jacqui Smith: We have made no estimate of the number of people in the United Kingdom with a neurological condition. The recent neurological alliance publication, Levelling Up, estimates that around 2,850,000 people have a neurological condition of one kind or another, with another 8,000,000 suffering from migraine.
	In February 2001, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions, that will have a particular focus on the needs of people with neurological conditions and brain and spinal injury. Current plans are to publish the NSF in 2004 with a 10-year implementation period from 2005.

NHSU

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what year he expects NHSU to obtain its Royal Charter.

John Hutton: The National Health Service University (NHSU) aims to become an awarding and accrediting institution in its own right, by meeting the standards required to become a university.
	On 21 November 2002, NHSU launched its development plan entitled Learning for Everyone. This document sets out the vision for the university and is the basis for an extensive three month consultation exercise with the NHS and its partners. The responses and issues raised will be taken into account when drawing up the NHSU strategic and business plan in April 2003.
	To achieve university status, NHSU will need to meet the rigorous standards which apply to the granting of such a status. It will work towards those standards as it develops and will only be able to submit the necessary application when it is confident that they are met.
	NHSU have obtained agreement in principle with the Higher Education Funding Council to set up a working group, with members drawn from Higher Education Funding Council, NHSU, the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health and the Quality Assurance Agency. This group will look at the appropriate processes and mechanisms for achieving status, to offer advice and to draw up an action plan by November 2003 setting out the step to be taken.

Patient Records

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to tackle the threat of computer viruses to patient records.

David Lammy: National health service organisations are required to implement and maintain adequate local anti-virus protection as a condition of their connection to the NHS network. In addition, relevant guidance for the selection, deployment and management of anti-virus products has been provided to NHS organisations and is regularly refreshed to take account of new threats.

Personal Social Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the (a) efficiency gains and (b) other value for money gains of personal social services expenditure that have been achieved, broken down by region, in each of the last three years.

Jacqui Smith: Information provided by councils during in-year monitoring suggests that, for social services in England, the estimated efficiency and value for money gain was 2.1 per cent, for 19992000, 2.3 per cent, for 200001 and 2.5 per cent, for 200102. Taken over these three years, the total estimated efficiency and value for money gain was 7.1 per cent., virtually meeting the cumulative three year target of 7.2 per cent, for those years. The table shows these figures broken down using the current regional boundaries. The target is national and does not apply to individual regions or councils. Efficiency gains and value for money gains are not separately identified. Information for 200102 is not yet available.
	
		Estimated efficiency and value for money gains in personal social services -- Percentages
		
			  Estimated efficiency and value for money gains  
			 Region 19992000 200001 200102 Total for three years 
		
		
			 England 2.1 2.3 2.5 7.1 
			 North West 2.2 3.0 3.3 8.8 
			 North East 2.3 2.6 2.4 7.4 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 1.8 2.0 2.4 6.3 
			 East Midlands 1.9 2.4 2.8 7.3 
			 West Midlands 2.1 2.1 2.1 6.4 
			 East England 1.8 2.4 2.8 7.2 
			 London 2.0 2.0 2.2 6.3 
			 South East 2.4 2.0 2.3 6.8 
			 South West 2.0 2.7 2.5 7.4 
		
	
	Note:
	Some councils are excluded where they did not provide data of sufficient quality.

Specialised Services (Commissioning)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the process and timetable is for completion of the review into commissioning specialised services; and when he plans to announce the outcome of the review.

John Hutton: A summary of the responses will be placed in the Library in December and guidance will be issued in the new year.

Student Nurses

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student nurses have failed to complete their studies since 1997, broken down by nation of the UK.

John Hutton: Information for England on the number of student nurses who have not completed their course is given in the table below. Information for Scotland and Wales is a matter for the devolved Administrations. For Northern Ireland, although the Administration is devolved, responsibility rests with the Minister in the Northern Ireland office.
	
		Student nurses (England)
		
			 Year Started Leavers Interrupted Active 
		
		
			 199697 15,700 3,200 667 283 
			 199798 18,106 3,650 996 658 
			 199899 18,147 3,299 1,206 7,765 
			 19992000 20,186 2,712 1,015 16,258 
			 200001 19,932 1,238 460 18,232 
		
	
	Note:
	This data is based on a snapshot in time of a particular cohort(s) and therefore each year there will still be students who have yet to complete their course.
	Glossary of terms:
	Leaversstudents who have withdrawn completely from the course.
	Interruptedstudents who have temporarily withdrawn but who intend to return.
	Activestudents who have still to complete their studies.

Terrorism (Mass Contamination)

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many primary care trusts have fully developed plans to deal with (a) chemical, (b) biological, (c) radioactive and (d) nuclear emergencies;
	(2)  how many PCTs have fully developed plans to deal with CBRN emergencies.

John Hutton: holding answers 21 November and 25 November
	The main health response to a chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear (CBRN) emergency will involve the ambulance services and hospital sector where there has been an overt deliberate release.
	Primary care trusts (PCTs) took on overall emergency planning responsibilities from 1 October 2002. All PCTs are required to prepare major incident plans. The Department will shortly be reviewing their progress.
	A programme of work is underway to support PCTs in developing their major incident plans and response arrangements. This is led by the regional directors of public health (RDsPH) and regional health emergency planning advisers. RDsPH have been tasked to ensure that PCTs have an all hazards approach in place for dealing with major incidents. This will draw upon the expertise of the relevant agencies such as the regional chemical incident provider units, the Public Health Laboratory Service, the communicable disease surveillance centre, consultants in communicable disease control and the National Radiological Protection Board.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Invalid Care Allowance

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will commission research into the levels of take-up of invalid care allowance.

Maria Eagle: We have no plans to do so at present. Awards of invalid care allowance are steadily increasing, although subject to seasonal fluctuations. Information about financial and practical help for carers is readily available from a range of sources. We expect that the publicity surrounding the recent changes to ICA (allowing access to older carers, and extending entitlement after the death of the disabled person), will also serve to increase awareness of all the benefits available to carers.

Benefit Uprating

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list each (a) social security benefit and (b) revenue and capital disregard that has not been uprated since (i) 1997, (ii) 1992 and (iii) 1990.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is as follows:
	Benefits and income/capital disregards not uprated since 1990:
	Christmas Bonus;
	Retirement Pension addition at age 80;
	Income related benefits capital limits except the lower and upper limits for people in long-term care which were increased in 1996 and the lower and upper limits for over 60s which were increased in April 2001;
	Income related benefits earnings disregards except the higher earnings disregard which was last increased in April 2001 1 ;
	Income related benefits disregard for war disablement pension and war widow's pension;
	Income related benefits disregard of income from a boarder.
	1 #25 earnings disregard for lone parents in housing benefits and council tax benefit was not increased in April 2001.
	Notes:
	Income related benefits are income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseeker's allowance (introduced in 1996).

Departmental Buildings

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) buildings maintenance and (b) accommodation capital projects in each of the past three years.

Ian McCartney: The information requested is in the table.
	
		# 
		
			  19992000 200001 200102 
		
		
			 Buildings maintenance 16,747,403 16,342,368 19,190,951 
			 Accommodation capital 13,935,877 7,956,305 18,695,526 
		
	
	The increase in buildings maintenance costs is due to the requirements to refurbish, to corporate standard, the pathfinder offices for Jobcentre Plus.

Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets for the reduction of benefit fraud have been set since 2000; and what performance has been against each target.

Malcolm Wicks: We set a Public Service Agreement target in March 1999 to achieve a reduction in the level of fraud and error in income support and jobseeker's allowance by 10 per cent. by March 2002. In April 2001 two further targets were added: a 25 per cent. reduction by March 2004 and a 50 per cent. reduction by March 2006. In July this year we announced an increase in the target for working age customers to a 33 per cent. reduction by 2004 while maintaining our longer-term commitment to the 50 per cent. reduction by 2006. We have also announced a new target of a 25 per cent. reduction in fraud and error in housing benefit by 2006.
	In income support and jobseeker's allowance the latest results show that, by March 2002, we had achieved a 24 per cent. reduction, more than double the target of 10 per cent.

Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the investigation of monthly random samples of cases in each benefit agency area has shown the level of fraud and error to be in (a) income support and (b) job seeker's allowance, in each of the past six months for which figures are available.

Malcolm Wicks: We have made very good progress in reducing the level of fraud and error in income support and jobseeker's allowance. Latest national figures show that by March 2002 we had achieved a reduction of 24 per cent., more than double the target of 10 per cent. A full report giving the regional figures will be published early next year.
	The latest published regional figures are for the period April 2000 to March 2001 and are in The Results of the Area Benefit Review and the Quality Support Team from April 2000 to March 2001: Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance, a copy of which is in the Library. The information is not available on a monthly basis.

Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were employed in the Benefit Fraud Investigation Service in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002; and how many are employed there.

Malcolm Wicks: The overall aim of the Department's anti-fraud strategy is to have a benefit system which is secure from first claim to final payment. The implementation of this strategy means than an anti-fraud focus is integral to the work of all staff in the Department, as is dealing with the wider agenda of error and incorrectness in benefit payments.
	The information currently available suggests that, throughout the period, around 5,000 staff have been employed by the Department and its agencies in work to investigate suspicions of fraud. This figures includes staff employed within the Benefit Fraud Investigation Service. However, taking account of changes in data collection measures over time and the integration of investigators more fully with front-line staff, it is clear that we need to improve the validity and reliability of year- on-year comparisons, and we have asked officials to undertake further work on this. We have concluded that it is not possible to make valid comparisons between figures year-on-year.
	We will therefore undertake a review to improve the consistency of centrally collected information for the future.

Pension Credit

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimates he has made of the (a) number and (b) percentage of pensioner households in receipt of housing benefit but not minimum income guarantee who will be entitled to the pension credit; and what efforts he is making to ensure they claim the pension credit.

Ian McCartney: The information is not available in the format requested. However it is estimated that around a third (half a million pensioner benefit units) of those who become newly entitled to pension credit when it is introduced in October 2003 will already be eligible for housing benefit.
	To ensure maximum take up of pension credit all existing minimum income guarantee (MIG) recipients will be automatically transferred to pension credit. We will contact all pensioners not receiving MIG, giving them information about pension credit and encouraging them to apply. pension credit will also be advertised through the press and television.

Pensions

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cumulative percentage increase in the state pension for (a) a married couple and (b) a single person since 1996.

Ian McCartney: Since April 1996 the maximum rate payable of the Basic State Pension has increased by around 7 per cent. in real terms.

Pensions Law

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time is which his Department allows for consultation with pensioners' practitioners about proposed changes to pensions law.

Ian McCartney: Legislation provides that, except in certain specified circumstances, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State should usually consult on draft private pensions regulations. The Department normally allows at least 12 weeks when undertaking a written consultation with pensioner practitioners on changes to pensions law.

Poverty

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people over retirement age lived below the poverty line in (a) Lancashire, (b) the North West of England, (c) Wales and (d) the UK, in each of the last five years.

Ian McCartney: Poverty is a complex, multi-dimensional issue, affecting many aspects of pensioners' livesincluding income, health, housing and the quality of their environment. Consequently, there is no single measure of pensioner poverty; providing a decent income is key. At present, no pensioner has to get by on less than #98.15 a week under the minimum income guarantee (#149.80 for couples). These rates will increase in April 2003 to #102.10 for single pensioners and #155.80 for couples.
	From April 2002, the Government is spending an extra #6 billion a year in real terms on pensioners as a result of policies introduced since 1997. This includes #2 billion more on the poorest third of pensioners.

Stakeholder Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of companies under the regulations introduced on 8 October 2001 that (a) are obliged to provide and (b) have so far failed to offer, access to a stakeholder scheme; and what plans he has to ensure that employers who have not complied with the requirement to offer a stakeholder scheme, do so.

Ian McCartney: It is broadly estimated that around 350,000 firms are required to provide their employees with access to a stakeholder pension scheme. Latest data from the Association of British Insurers reveals that 335,719 employers had designated a stakeholder pension scheme by the end of September 2002. This suggests a compliance rate of over 90 per cent.
	The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) is the body responsible for regulating compliance with the workplace access requirements in respect of stakeholder pension schemes. Opra will continue to follow up all reports of non-compliance and will take action where compliance has not been achieved. It is also looking into ways to identify employers who have not yet complied with the requirements. It has begun writing to employers to ascertain whether or not they have any pension provision, and whether this pension provision would exempt them from offering access to a stakeholder pension scheme. Where Opra identifies non-compliant employers it will actively pursue such cases.

Surplus Properties

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many surplus properties his Department (a) has and (b) will have over the next 10 years; what their value is; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: There are currently 44 properties that are surplus to the Department's accommodation requirements, six of these are freehold and 38 leasehold. The freeholds are valued at #1,605,000. It is difficult to place a value on the leaseholds, given the prevailing market conditions.
	The Department is currently developing an estate strategy to meet our future business requirements and in particular support the implementation and rollout of Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service. Until the strategy work is completed we cannot forecast how many properties in total will be required and consequently how many properties in total will be surplus to requirements.

Winter Fuel Payments

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what distinction is made when sending winter fuel payments between houses with numbered addresses and those with house names but no numbers;
	(2)  in what way his Department distinguish between single pensioner households and those with more than one pensioner when distributing winter fuel payments;
	(3)  how many appeals by pensioners living alone were received against incorrect awards of winter fuel payments in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001.

Ian McCartney: To ensure all eligible people in a household receive the correct level of winter fuel payment, personal information from the benefit computer systems is matched to ascertain how many eligible people live at each address. No distinction is made between houses with numbered addresses and those with house names but no number when determining entitlement to winter fuel payments.
	Addresses are converted to a standard format and then matched against the Royal Mail Postal Address file, including the unique alpha/numeric value for each address known as the Delivery Point Suffix.
	During the data matching, various computer scans are run. Where more than one person's details are linked by the Delivery Point Suffix, each will be allocated #100; where the details are not linked to another, the person is awarded #200. A number of further scans are run to correct errors and mismatching.
	The Delivery Point Suffix is identified in 98 per cent. of cases, but in cross-referencing over 12 million records, there will unfortunately be some errors. Anyone who receives #100 when they believe that they are entitled to #200 is asked to contact the address on the notification letter.
	This is then investigated and where further enquiries reveal that a #200 payment was due, a top up payment is issued. For Winter 200001 45,332 top up payments were made, and for winter 200102, there were 38,853 top up payments issued.